A spokesman for Jefferson County Sheriff Mike Hale has confirmed to The North Jefferson News that Hale has asked Gov. Bob Riley for help after a $4.1 million budget cutback by the county commission was upheld by Circuit Judge Joseph L. Boohaker.

That request includes either emergency funding from the state or, barring that, activation of National Guard to help patrol areas that furloughed deputies had left unguarded.

Lt. Randy Christian, Hale’s spokesman, confirmed the request in an e-mail to The North Jefferson News this afternoon. Christian’s statement:

“As it stands now due to the Commissioners imposing a 4.1 million dollar cut to what remains of the last quarter of the Sheriff’s Office budget we are projected to be out of funding by the first week of September. Sheriff Hale called the Governor today to report the situation to him. We are asking the Governor for any available funding that would help keep the deputies patrolling until October 1st when the new year begins and if there is no funding available for that we will be asking the Governor to activate the National Guard to assist in keeping Jefferson County safe. Our hope is this is resolved by the County Commission but we have to have a plan in place should there be no resolution.”

Hale’s request has made national headlines. The original story by the Associated Press has been featured on numerous highly-viewed web sites, including The Drudge Report.

We’ll have more on this story as it develops.

From staff reports