Sheriff's reorganization remains work in progress

McCormick
McCormick

Garland County Sheriff Mike McCormick plans to resubmit his funding request for a bookkeeping position after he fleshes out how the job fits into his planned reorganization of the department's civilian staff.

The Garland County Quorum Court's Human Resources Committee has tabled the request twice since McCormick first proposed it at the Jan. 25 committee meeting, which was focused on creating positions to staff the newly formed financial management office that, pending quorum court approval, will begin operations March 1.

McCormick told justices of the peace the bookkeeping position will replace his finance manager, who has been tapped as finance director for the new department that would consolidate most of the county's payroll, claims processing, human resources and bill paying responsibilities into a single department.

McCormick said the financial management office would pick up some of the slack caused by the departure, but many of the finance manager's duties would remain with the sheriff's department. He said he had planned to ask for the position before the new department was proposed, explaining that uniformed and civilian personnel hired to staff the new detention center have created more paperwork than the current staff of about 10 civilians can handle.

"The bookkeeping workload is tremendous," McCormick said. "With the civil division and new detention center, I thought the (new position) was something we needed. I'm going to put together a list of things the bookkeeper's going to be required to do."

That civil division, which processes and serves court orders, lost a uniformed position to the patrol division last year, increasing the number of deputies on patrol during a 12-hour shift from five to six.

"(The civil division) serves all the papers," McCormick said. "There's all types of legal documents the sheriff's office has to serve. It stays very busy."

The human resources and finance committees advanced McCormick's request last week to fill a vacated civilian supervisor position with an office manager, a new position he said would be the cornerstone of his reorganization plan centered on increasing efficiency by giving accounting and clerical personnel a grounding in more than one area. The Finance Committee approved a $35,000 salary for the position.

"At some point this year, we want our records clerks, civil clerks and criminal investigation secretaries to have a basic knowledge of the other positions," he said.

The bookkeeper is one of the few requests that has met resistance since McCormick took office in January 2015. During 2016 budget hearings last fall, the quorum court approved making trucks a more prominent part of the department's fleet after McCormick cited their cheaper state contract prices and better durability on uneven dirt roads.

The $147,612 capital outlay was allocated for a three-quarter ton Ram 2500 truck, two half-ton Ram 1500 trucks and two Ford Explorers. The $100,000 the quorum court allocated for department vehicles last year purchased four Ram trucks.

McCormick's proposal for an operations captain to oversee areas not directly related to booking and inmate housing at the new detention center was approved last April, giving the jail a uniformed administrator over the contract services the county uses for inmate medical care, food service and commissary.

The quorum court's initial reluctance softened after the $61,329 salary was drawn from the jail's operation and maintenance fund instead of the sales-tax supported fund that pays most of the jail's personnel and operational expenses. Inmate booking fees are the primary source of the operation and maintenance fund's $477,040 in projected 2016 revenue.

McCormick also secured approval last year for a new job title and higher salary for the top position in the enforcement division, making Chief Deputy Jason Lawrence the chief deputy of enforcement. The new title raised the position's current salary to $64,359, a more than 20-percent increase from the $52,397 salary of Lawrence's predecessor.

McCormick told JPs that in light of Lawrence's qualifications, which includes an advanced degree in business administration, the pay increase was warranted.

The quorum court denied McCormick's request last year for a third enforcement division captain that would have overseen special operation such as search and rescue, marine and mounted patrols, dive and tactical response teams and the reserve program.

McCormick said he plans to bring the request before the quorum court again, but didn't know when.

Funding McCormick sought to bring school resource officers to the Cutter Morning Star, Jessieville and Mountain Pine school districts was appropriated last year, making Lake Hamilton the only school in the unincorporated area of Garland County without an on-site deputy. The school districts reimburse the county for the deputies' salary and benefits.

Local on 02/06/2016

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