Sheriff presents 2027 budget; Union County approves new office manager hire and accepts deputy resignation

Sheriff Prouty and senior staff presented the Sheriff's 2027 budget requests to the Union County Board of Commissioners at the July 7 meeting.

Following the presentation, the board carried a motion by Dailey, seconded by Kimmel, to hire Alica Gessler as Office Manager at $28.38 per hour, starting July 13, 2026; minutes state Gessler replaces Tracy Smith, who recently retired from the Sheriff's Office. The motion carried.

The board also accepted the resignation of Deputy O'Mahoney, effective June 23. The minutes record the vote on that motion as 4 Yes, 1 No, with Commissioner Joffer recorded as the No vote; the motion was carried.

Separately, the board declared two 2020 Dodge Ram pickups used by the Sheriff's Office as surplus and approved advertising for bids to sell the vehicles. Those surplus motions were recorded as carried.

The minutes do not include detailed vote tallies for the hiring motion or the surplus motions beyond the resignation vote, and they do not list specific budget numbers from the sheriff's presentation.