Wednesday, June 12, 2002
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Wednesday, June 12, 2002 |
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Sheriff: Hire 65 more deputies By JOHN THOMPSON
The Fayette County Sheriff's Department could become a lot more crowded later this year if the Fayette County Commission adopts the department's proposed budget of nearly $13 million. During a budget workshop session last Wednesday, the County Commission heard the department wants to hire 65 new employees. The new hires would be distributed throughout the department: 57 to staff the new jail, one in the criminal investigations division, one in traffic, one in administration and five officers in the patrol division. Finance Director Mark Pulliam explained that nearly $1.5 million of the sheriff's budget would be placed in a separate fund to hire the new jail employees. "By doing it this way, we're saving the county some money. It's just not realistic to expect to hire all these employees July 1, when the new budget starts," he said. The County Commission supported the new hires, but sharp-eyed Commissioner Linda Wells noticed that adjustments would have to be made to the final budget. The department had originally requested 66 officers for the jail, but staff recommended 57. In the recommended budget, the staff did not back the numbers out for the nine officers that were not approved. The numbers caused some confusion for the commissioners, who were not happy with not having the correct totals. "How could this happen?" questioned Commission Chairman Greg Dunn. Pulliam explained this is the first year the Sheriff's Department has had to departmentalize its budget, and the way the figures are now shown conform to state codes, but can be confusing. "We'll work next year to streamline the budget," he said. The sheriff's budget is almost one third of the county's $44.5 million general fund budget and has grown steadily in the past few years. In 2000, the sheriff's budget was $8.5 million and increased to $9.2 million in 2001. In 2002, the department's budget surpassed the $10 million mark. The County Commission is set to discuss the budget at Thursday's 7 p.m. meeting at the Fayette County Administrative Complex.
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