Sheriff Dan Lacaser briefed the Knox County Board of Commissioners on jail operations and staffing on June 25.
"As of — this would have been done yesterday — we had 15 females in custody, 64 males, with a total of 79," Lacaser said, providing the most recent population figures. He said the sheriff’s office is actively recruiting and has multiple candidates "in the process," and expressed a hope of reaching full staffing by the end of the year.
Lacaser detailed maintenance and security work at the jail, including interior painting and graffiti removal in a dorm, replacement of razor wire atop a recreation-area fence, gate and evidence-room fencing, and replacement of three unmarked vehicles that had reached the end of service. He also said SAS completed camera-system upgrades and installations, and staff intend to reposition at least one camera in the evidence room.
Board members and staff discussed recruitment-ad strategy; a commissioner advised keeping job postings running continually to catch applicants who move to the area, while Lacaser said he had paused a public ad while candidates were already in the hiring pipeline. The sheriff noted the non-certified applicant pool tends to be larger than the certified pool.
The sheriff and commissioners also discussed maintenance work underway at the jail, a pending fire-panel replacement by a contractor called Custom Wire, and vehicle fleet turnover. No formal actions on staffing or budget changes were recorded during the briefing.
The board accepted the report; follow-up on hiring and any requested budgetary changes would appear in future county documents.