Sheriff warns unfunding could force deputies off patrol as dispatchers log 3,000 hours overtime

The sheriff told the board the proposed unfundings risked shifting operating burdens rather than eliminating problems. He explained that some accounting changes had moved money from salary accounts into overtime accounts, and that eliminating certain allocations could remove the salary savings that currently pay overtime for dispatchers.

"In 2526 or I believe, yeah, 2526, it was 3000 hours of overtime worked by my 7 dispatchers," the sheriff said when supervisors asked about the dispatch staffing picture. He described that the office is required to staff a PSAP (911 center) and court security and that, without adequate funding for dispatch or corrections deputies, patrol deputies would need to be pulled from the street to cover those roles. The sheriff warned that rotating deputies into court or jail coverage and pulling patrol staff to fill gaps would reduce available patrol presence and create operational risk.

Supervisors asked staff to review which positions are grant-funded or otherwise shielded from net-county-cost reductions, and the board restored two deputy correction positions in the amended package. The CAO's office said it would analyze overtime and salary-account tradeoffs and return with a clearer reconciliation at the Nov. 17 follow-up meeting.