Sheriff Matt Gentry addresses members of the Cullman County Commission, including Kerry Watson, left, and Kenneth Walker, right at Tuesday's meeting. The sheriff is seeking a budget increase to offset the volume of calls and demands on deputies.

As the Cullman County Commission prepares to tackle its budget for the coming year, the biggest spending request by far will come from the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office, which says it risks liability due to understaffing and strained services — even as funding remains static in the face of recent and predicted local growth.

Sheriff Matt Gentry and Chief Deputy Brett Holmes met with the commission ahead of Tuesday’s regular commission meeting, reviewing Gentry’s request for the county to boost its funding to cover both an 8 percent pay raise for deputies, as well as the addition of several new law enforcement personnel.

Gentry said additional staffing is needed in order for the Sheriff’s Office to catch up to a dramatic increase in call volume, mental health-related cases, and a surging inmate population at the Cullman County Detention Center.

“We’re an agency that operates 24/7, seven days a week, 365 days a year, and we’re at maximum capacity with our employees, as far as what we can deal with and still keep the community safe,” said Gentry.

“Since 2014, there’s been an increase in our call volume of about 20,000 — which will put our call volume, by October, at approximately 54,000 calls a year. Cullman County is growing, and the funding for the sheriff’s office has remained level during that time. I think we need to get to a point where we’re matching the funding to the growth we’ve experienced.”

For 2018, the Sheriff’s Office received $10.98 million from the commission — slightly more than half of the commission’s $21.5 million total general fund budget. The commission office says the increases Gentry is seeking would require an additional $1.5 million contribution from the county next year, and potentially more in succeeding years, if the sheriff’s office institutes a proposed, staggered eight percent pay raise for deputies (four percent next year, plus another four percent the following year).

County administrator Gary Teichmiller said he and other county personnel agree that the sheriff’s office has need of additional funding, but added that it’s tough to identify where in the county budget it could come from.

“The changes you suggest will cost about a million and a half a year,” he told Gentry. “I agree with all you’re saying, and you run a good department in terms of efficiency. The problem, though, is finding more money on the county side. A municipality can raise taxes if it seeks additional revenue, but by law, the county commission can’t levy new taxes for anything other than education.”

Holmes emphasized that he and Gentry were asserting their funding requests more strongly this year because the sheriff’s office may face unprecedented liability for incidents that arise from understaffing or a lapse in statutorily-mandated service — particularly at the detention center, as well as in connection with mental health cases.

“The only reason we’re coming to you with this sense of urgency is because it’s reached a level of liability,” Holmes told commissioners.

Among the sheriff’s office’s plans to bring its service in line with increased call volume and population growth is the creation of nearly two dozen new positions, to include the following:

– Eight new patrol deputies to help handle the general increase in call volume.

– At least eight new detention deputies to help handle an increased jail census.

– One mental health deputy, to respond to mental health-related calls that presently pull patrol deputies from regular duty. Under the sheriff’s office’s proposal, the position would be supplemented by the Cullman County Probate Court.

– One investigator assigned to the district attorney’s office, with supplemental funding to be provided by the district attorney’s office.

– An eight percent pay increase for deputies, to be staggered over two years (four percent in the first year, and an additional four percent in the second year).

– Approximately $120,000 in additional funding for round-the-clock medical personnel at the detention center, via a contract with Cullman Regional.

The commission will hold a series of budget planning meetings next week. Those meetings will be held at 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 17, 18, and 20 in the conference room of the Cullman County Commission’s courthouse offices.

Benjamin Bullard can be reached by phone at 256-734-2131 ext. 145.