County Looking To Up Sheriff’s Budget

Fayette County Commissioners began planning next year’s county budget at a special workshop meeting held Tuesday, June 2.

The Sheriff’s Office and the County Jail were up first among the county departments requesting funding for next year. Commissioners discussed the requests, but they did not take any action.

This current budget stands at $3,070,608 for the Sheriff’s Office and $1,227,473 for the jail. Sheriff Keith Korenek and Chief Deputy Randy Noviskie presented Commissioners with funding requests of $369,672 for equipment, services and pay increases at the Sheriff’s Office and 911 Dispatch Center.

The bulk of that figure would be used to purchase five new 4x4 patrol SUVs at a cost of $194,978. The Sheriff also requested pay increases for nine supervisors and investigators, at a cost of $10,538 annually.

Korenek also asked commissioners to fund an additional investigator position at $60,000 annually for salary and benefits. The Sheriff’s Office currently employs four investigators.

In addition, he asked commissioners to fund salary and benefits for new civilian evidence technician at $45,000 a year. Korenek said the investigators currently handle evidence duties. He said sending and receiving evidence to and from crime labs and handling evidence records takes up much of the investigators’ time. The new position would free up more time for criminal investigations.

Korenek also requested $5,000 to lay new carpet in the dispatch room and $3,300 for two chairs to be used by 911 dispatchers. Noviskie said he could not recall if the dispatch room carpet had ever been replaced since the Justice Center was built in the 1980s. He said the dispatch chairs are expensive because they are built tough enough to stand up to aroundthe-clock use.

At the jail, Korenek proposed a 3 percent pay raise for jailers and 5 percent raise for administrators. Those raises would cost $19,435 annually. He also requested funding for a wandtype watchman system for the jail at a cost of $1,500. The system allows jailers to use a wand to scan barcodes on each cell when making rounds to check on prisoners.

County Judge Joe Weber suggested funding for a few items that the Sheriff’s Office did not request.

“Do you have enough deputies? Do you need another deputy position?” Weber asked.

“We certainly could use another deputy position,” said Noviskie.

“I’m one of these people who think that with all the shenanigans going on in the world, at some point people are going to have enough, and guess what? They’re moving to the country,” Weber said.

Pct. 3 Commissioner Harvey Berckenhoff said he would like to see more deputies working at night. Korenek said the Sheriff’s Office currently keeps three deputies on duty at night to cover the entire county.

Pct. 1 Commissioner Jason McBroom said he would like to see more deputies enforcing traffic laws around the County. He said DPS troopers mostly work on Interstate 10 and US 290. McBroom said he believes more enforcement on US 77 and TX 71 would cut down on the number of wrecks on those highways.

“Is there anything you can do to help with that,” McBroom asked the Sheriff.

Korenek said DPS troopers don’t like to work on US 77 because the narrow shoulders, curves and hills present a safety hazard to officers standing on the side of the road.

“We can work with whatever y’all give us,” Noviskie said.

Weber also suggested increasing the base salary of new dispatchers as a way of attracting people to work what Noviskie called “the most stressful job in law enforcement.” That was another item that the Sheriff did not request.

Notably, the Sheriff’s previous request to raise the salaries of the two drug interdiction officers did not come up at Tuesday’s meeting. Weber said the Commissioners will reconsider that request after hearing from all the other departments.

Weber’s suggestions for additional spending were a departure from the message he sent county officials last month, when he warned that the economic fallout from the coronavirus shutdowns could pinch county coffers next year. At the time, he asked department heads to find savings in their budgets.

In an interview with the Record after the meeting, Weber said he feels frustrated by “weak and indecisive leadership” in communities affected by riots and looting following the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis last week. Weber said he believes the police officer involved should have been arrested immediately, which may have eased some of the tensions. However, Weber said the times call for an emphasis on safety and security.

“I want to make sure that in Fayette County we are properly equipped with the right people and training, not just for right now, but in the future,” Weber said. “I want us to look at some of those things. I’m not saying we’re going to approve all of them. I’m a big supporter of our first responders. If budgets are limited, then safety and security has to be the number one priority in my mind.”

Fayette County EMS will present their budget requests at a meeting Thursday morning, June 4.

Also at Tuesday’s budget workshop, Commissioners discussed a reshuffle of county offices. Bluebonnet Trails Community Services will soon move out of the county-owned Meadows Office Building on Ellinger Road. Commissioners discussed possibly moving the Tax Assessor-Collector’s Office and the Elections Office from the Courthouse to the Meadows Building, which offers better access for disabled and elderly residents.

That would clear space so that the County Auditor’s Office could return to the courthouse. It is currently housed in an office on Colorado Street, for which the county pays $1,500 a month in rent. Accordingly, the reshuffle could result in some savings for the County. However, moving the offices to the Meadows Building could require renovations.