Sheriff Farris Hoping To Hire 11 Additional SROs

Putnam County Sheriff Eddie Farris wants to hire 11 additional school resource officers to give coverage to all 19 county schools.

Farris said the cost to hire the officers would approach $1 million and likely require a property tax increase.

“You can’t put a price tag on the lives of our students, teachers, and administrators. They are our future,” Farris said. “We want to make sure they’re in a safe learning environment and we want to be able to do our part to do that.”

Sheriff Farris has presented two funding options to the county budget committee. One option would hire 11 SRO’s in a single fiscal year and the other would provide funding to hire the officers over a three year period.

A total of $973,478 would provide salary, vehicles, training, uniforms, and equipment for each officer. The training funds would be used for non-commissioned officers who would replace experienced officers transferring to the SRO program, Farris said.

“A lot of people don’t realize that you need two years experience as a commissioned officer in order to be a school resource officer,” Farris said. “That eliminates a lot of new hires in order to do that.”

Putnam County currently has SRO’s in all middle schools and high schools. The additional officers would cover 11 remaining elementary schools.