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PART III: FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE AND ACCOUNTABLE
As your Sheriff, I will take great pride in being fiscally responsible and a good steward of the citizen’s tax dollars. I will continue to maintain a productive and respectful relationship with the County Commission and all Elected Officials. The Sheriff’s Office is basically comprised of five Divisions, Administration, Court Service, Patrol, Investigations, and Jail Divisions. The Sheriff’s Office is too large and the responsibilities too great to operate the multi-million dollar budget in the same way that we would manage our own personal checking account. I have a proven track record and the experience needed when it comes to the preparation and management of the Sheriff's Office budget. I will be proactive in reducing the burden on the county budget by;
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Zero-Based Budgeting: We will embrace the fiscally responsible concept of zero-based budgeting. Zero-based budgeting in a law enforcement agency focuses on line-item justification during each and every budget process. Money is not allocated based on what a division received last year, but what they need this year. This strategy will allow the Sheriff’s Office to not only provide the growing community with better results for their tax dollars, but it will make funds available to be dedicated towards responding to the growth and emerging crime trends.
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Housing Out-of-County Inmates: We will continue to seek out overcrowded county jails and initiating contracts to house for those counties in need. As stated, in a previous article, Jan. 2008 – Dec. 2016 this strategy added nearly 1.5 million dollars to the county’s General Revenue.
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Foster Relationships with Immigration And Customs Enforcement (ICE): I have fostering these relationships for the last 12 years to ensure the housing of Immigration Detainees. You do not build relationships like these in a matter of months. As stated in a previous article, Jan. 2008 – Dec. 2016, the housing of ICE Detainees added nearly 7.5 million dollars to the county’s General Revenue. I also plan to apply for the ICE 287(g) Program under the Jail Model. You may read more about this program at
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Negotiate Contracted Services: We currently contract for our Jail Food Services, Inmate Telephone Services, Inmate Medical Services, and our Kiosk Services. We will continue to renegotiate and go out for bid on these contracts as they expire instead of letting them roll over into yearly contracts at higher rates.
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Grant Money: We will be proactive in seeking out and applying for any and all grants available that will fit into the realm of our needs. In doing so I plan to send an Employee to Grant Writing Training and utilizing the multiple companies that assist in finding grants to suite the Sheriff Office’s needs.
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