Vancouver, WA  ̶  The Clark County Sheriff’s Office would have long-term, stable funding to hire deputies under a proposal the Board of County Councilors will consider as a spring supplemental budget adjustment.

Councilor Julie Olson introduced the idea of allowing Sheriff Chuck Atkins to hire three deputies above his office’s authorized positions in order to maintain full staffing.

“It provides a long-term commitment to public safety and removes hiring deputies from competition with other General Fund needs, said Olson.

Undersheriff Mike Cooke told the board the proposal is “an elegant solution” to a difficult problem. Now, hiring deputies is at least a 12-month process slowed by a lack of space in the state police academy. Only two of every 100 applicants complete the vetting and training process, and the academy could be subject to state budget cuts, Cooke said during a Wednesday work session.

In addition, retirements are taking a toll on staffing. In the past two years, the Sheriff’s Office has lost 21 deputies, he said.

The board will take action on the flexible hiring plan during an April 12 public hearing on 2016 spring supplemental budget requests.

Funding for the plan would be added to the Sheriff’s budget when hiring occurs, if needed.

Under the option, the Sheriff could hire three new deputies in addition to filling vacancies, allowing the office to bring on talented, well-qualified people it otherwise would have to turn away for lack of an open position. The number of authorized positions would increase by three each time the office reaches its authorized staffing. That would allow an ongoing hiring process and be an incentive to achieve 100 percent staffing at all times, said Deputy County Manager Bob Stevens, who had a 20-year career in law enforcement before joining the county.

CONTACT
Mark McCauley
Acting County Manager
(360) 397-2232
mark.mccauley@clark.wa.gov