County ponders the cost of safety
Grimes County commissioners convened a budget workshop Thursday, June 30 related to duties, responsibilities and staffing of county law enforcement agencies. Providing feedback to the court were the three precinct constables, Grimes County Sheriff’s Office (GCSO), and the Justices of the Peace (JP).
County Judge Joe Fauth opened the workshop saying, “I want to get some things out in the open for discussion and for us to get some information and ideas about how we can best provide security for Grimes County with the dollars I’ve proposed in the preliminary budget.”
More needs than dollars
According to Fauth, the preliminary budget is $950,000 short “based on projected revenues coming into the county as presented to me by the auditors.” Fauth recommended pulling from the County’s healthy Fund Balance rather than deny requests for additional law enforcement personnel or cutting law enforcement vehicles.
The preliminary budget fulfills constables’ requests for additional deputies in Precincts 1 and 3 and changing status of a parttime Pct. 2 deputy constable to fulltime. It also includes funding for a school resource officer (SRO) for Anderson-Shiro CISD and three of the six deputies requested by GCSO.
By the end of the hour long meeting, a GCSO investigator and clerical position were added to the budget. Auditor Jessi Murphy estimated the Investigator position would increase the budget by $156,000 for salary, benefits, a vehicle and equipment. The clerk position at an additional $57,000 for salary and benefits, will reduce sheriff’s deputies’ time spent on paperwork.
Stretched thin
Discussion about citations elicited comments from the constables and the JPs about tradeoffs resulting from not enough boots on the ground. While constables are responsible for serving warrants and papers and writing citations, their duties also include serving as bailiffs. With the new Justice and Business Center’s ability to hold more court sessions, this increases the constables’ court time and decreases the time to serve papers or run traffic.
GCSO deputies noted that the amount of time processing an accident scene, a DWI arrest or drug bust averages 3-5 hours per incident and impacts their ability to run traffic or respond to citizen calls. All agreed that the number of citations should not be the basis for judging an agency’s performance. Pct. 3 JP Mark Laughlin pointed out that lives are saved by getting a drunk driver off the road.
Pct. 1 JP Chris Acord advised that most speeders are not “local” traffic but drivers passing through Grimes County.
Pct. 2 Constable Blake Jarvis said, “Every ticket we’ve wrote on the toll road (SH 249) has been over 100 mph. Today was 107.”
“Doing the best we can”
Growth brings increased crime, call volume and jail occupancy. Regarding GCSO’s need for additional dispatchers, Chief Deputy Todd Greene said, “Until we have the office space in there, we can’t accommodate anymore.”
Sheriff Don Sowell shared history related to GCSO’s willingness to forego dispatchers at this time. According to Sowell, in 1998 he gave up four jailer positions which weren’t needed at the time but told the court, “We’ve been playing catch-up when I request jailers for the last decade and a half or longer.”
He advised commissioners GCSO may ask again when jail modifications are complete and stated his need for an investigator and more deputies.
Sowell recapped challenges facing Grimes County from the lack of DPS troopers because of border deployments, to the need for a DPS sergeant’s office in Grimes County, to school safety and he complimented the DA’s office on its convictions.
He summarized the GCSO position saying, “We’re doing the best we can with a minimum of staffing. I’ve got not too many more than I had in 1998.”