News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Clay County Sheriff Brandon Boone asked County Commissioners Monday for additional funding to deal with a lack of staff.
The proposal is a five percent increase for the sheriff’s office, dispatchers, and guards. Boone said he is having trouble obtaining correctional officers, and staffing has reached a crossroads for the department.
“There’s no way I can guarantee that,” Boone said. “I’m in the worst shape I’ve ever been in as long as I’ve been there and right now my problem is dispatch and we have never had a problem there.”
During Monday night’s work session, Boone suggested overtime pay instead of comp time as a possible resolution to his staffing issue.
“Right now nobody wants to work tonight if they are scheduled to be off tonight,” Boone said. “but you offer them overtime pay they will come in and work because a $13 an hour is $19 an hour.”
Clay County received a $7.5 million loan from the USDA to expand the jail in 2019. The loan expires this September. The project came in way over budget when bid last year. Boone said if the county proceeds to build a jail he is concerned the department would not meet expectations because it could not adequately staff the facility.
“By far I would love to walk into a new jail tomorrow,” Boone said. “But I don’t want to be a failure either.”
Boone said he has had conversations with current correctional officers and that moving to a new jail is an unpopular opinion amongst them. The reason: the burden of having to take care of a larger facility with too few staff.
“I’ve told my current employees if we moved forward with a jail at this point,” Boone said. “None of them wants to go to a jail.”
The commissioners will meet again next week to consider budget plans for the upcoming fiscal year.
