Managing Editor 10/24.2001

As the end of the year draws nearer and the budget problems in White County are addressed, Sheriff Pat Garrett is getting more nervous about what the new year may bring to his department. As the largest county office funded from the county general fund, his is particularly vulnerable to the budget crunch that Treasurer Waylon Heathscott has warned is coming.

The sheriff's department is planning to submit a new budget to the budget committee that, although it has been trimmed, is still an increase over this year's budget. That proposed budget, at $2.8 million for both the sheriff's department and the detention center, is set at the recommendation from county.

"We were told we cannot exceed that figure," said Major Kyle Stokes of the sheriff's department. He said if the budget for county general is set at 90 percent of projected revenues, there will be no money set aside in the event one of the county offices goes over its budget.

"It's going to be tough," Stokes said. "If anyone sneezes, somebody will go over their budget."

He said line item overruns will have to be made up from other line items in the budget, but the quorum court will be unable to appropriate more money. State law mandates that a county cannot appropriate in excess of 90 percent of projected revenues.

County Judge Bob Parish said he has talked to members of the budget committee and told them he thinks the county is out of options and must consider a tax increase, either a millage or sales tax.

Asked if the committee has considered it, Parish said, "They didn't the other night (at the budget committee meeting October 18). They turned around and voted to cut the budget."

Parish said he knows any kind of a tax increase is politically unpopular, but the county is in a potentially serious situation and politics must be set aside.

"We don't have enough money in county general to run the services for the 67,000 people in the county," he said. "Now we're looking at cutting law enforcement and that's the wrong way to go."

He said now that the Searcy unit of the National Guard has shipped out, there is no one left in the county to call on in the event of a disaster larger than what can be handled with the law enforcement personnel on hand, and he does not want to see the county sheriff's department lose anyone.

"Our soldiers are making a sacrifice serving their country, and we need to sacrifice to ensure that their loved ones back at home have adequate law enforcement," Parish said. "Their backs (the quorum court members) are against the wall. It's a tough call, but it's their decision. They are the ones who have to do it."

Sheriff Garrett said he is worried about the coming year if something does not happen to ease the financial situation he is looking at. He said expenses are cut virtually to the bone now, and the only way he can free up money is to lay off personnel, an option that will leave him even more shorthanded than he is now.

"It's not that we've done anything wrong," Garrett said of the budget problems. "We have a job to do here, and it's a job that takes money."

The sheriff said he agrees with Parish about the need for a tax increase if that will stave off an economic crisis in his department.

"I agree with him and I think he showed a lot of leadership in what he told the court," Garrett said. "I hate to pay taxes as much as anyone, and I certainly don't want to have to pay more, but we are in a bad situation. We've cut as far as we can, and I don't see anywhere else we can cut without drastically cutting into the services we provide."

If he is forced to, Garrett said he will begin cutting hours and mileage first, and will then have to look at cutting services, such as the Community Oriented Policing (COPS) program and crime watch meetings.

"I don't want to do that," he said. "That's the public's way of getting me the information I need to effectively police their communities and I don't want to give that up." Garrett said he may also have to sacrifice 24 hour coverage of the county if he does not have enough money to pay overtime.

The department's new budget is a bare bones affair, he said, providing for minimum raises and no new personnel, although the sheriff has been trying to get two more patrol deputies to go with the 12 currently on staff.

He said he would be unable to cut the jail staff and stay in compliance with state standards unless he cut the inmate population as well, something which he said is easier said than done.

Asked if that would be an option, the sheriff replied, "No sir. I don't get to pick the people who must be incarcerated. That's done by the judges."

He said state budget cuts coupled with stiff sentencing at the Arkansas Department of Correction have impacted county jails, in that ADC-bound inmates are spending more time in the county jails awaiting transfer. This, he said, makes it imperative that he maintain the staff at the jail to keep as many inmates as possible.

Therefore, cuts would probably have to come from the patrol or criminal investigation divisions.

"I hope it does not come to that," Garrett said.

"I really do. I don't have enough people now. If cuts have to be made, however, I would look at the personnel as a whole and see who is the least productive and start there. But it would break my heart."