Sheriff asks board to review budgets before committing to overnight coverage arrangement

Madison County’s sheriff presented a proposal for the county to provide overnight police coverage — roughly midnight to 6 a.m. — for a neighboring city at a proposed rate of about $6 per hour. The sheriff said the county could generate new revenue from increased dispatch agreements and requested time to return with two budget options: one adding a full-time deputy and one maintaining the current staffing with part-time deputies.

The sheriff outlined that recent and prospective revenue changes include additional dispatch payments from Winterset and Erwin and other municipal partners, and said those figures could influence whether the county could afford expanded overnight coverage. "I have 35 paying $80,000 for a deputy. And then if 15,000 or 12,000 is added to being coverage from midnight to 6AM, we're looking at a $142,000..." the sheriff said as he described revenue assumptions and asked to refine the numbers before the board committed.

Board members pressed on operational details — whether deputies would be expected to respond to calls during the overnight window, how responding to distant calls would affect coverage elsewhere in the large county, and whether additional personnel would be required. Several members agreed the sheriff should return with a revised budget and staffing scenarios; the board will resume budget conversations next week and review the sheriff’s proposal alongside pending union negotiations.

No formal vote was taken on overnight coverage at the meeting.