“I don’t want to keep losing valuable people,” Patten said earlier this month as he expressed concerns about his department’s worsening turnover rate.
Adams County supervisors on Monday approved salary increases for about seven deputies at Patten’s request. The money for this comes from making two high-ranking deputies’ positions part time at reduced pay, said Chief Deputy Sheriff Shane Daughtery.
More efforts are needed to find funds to give other deputies higher wages as “everybody is leaving and going elsewhere,” said Adams County Supervisor Ricky Gray.
The Adams County Sheriff’s Office – the county’s largest department – last year had 75 employees before taking the brunt of budget cuts or cost savings imposed by the county Board of Supervisors for the fiscal year that began in October. Ten ACSO jobs were marked for elimination to reduce expenses by $600,000. The ax fell mainly on jailers.
Adams County jail cells are now largely vacant because of the facility’s deteriorating conditions. Those arrested or sentenced in Adams County are now mostly being housed in the nearby Concordia Parish Correctional Facility.
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