By Angela Jones
Benton County Mayor Mark Ward wants to make one thing clear: He supports the Benton County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO), and he is definitely in favor of law and order.
“I understand that the Sheriff is facing many challenges in regard to his budget, and I am here to help if I can,” Ward said. “I want to work with BCSO on their budgeting and ways to move funds around to meet the current needs of the department.”
In an effort to sort through the BCSO budgetary challenges left on the county mayor’s plate from previous mayors Barry Barnett and Brett Lashlee, Ward reported that he has met with Sheriff Kenny Christopher several times since he took office on Sept. 1, most recently on Friday, Dec. 9.
The two county leaders clearly agree on one thing – that the BCSO should be fully funded and fully staffed. How to get there is where the differences begin.
“I did not say that the Sheriff’s Office should cut its overtime line item as a way to fund a $1 per hour pay raise for deputies,” Ward gently corrected in an interview on Dec. 12. “What I did propose was that we could transfer funds within the existing BCSO budget from under-utilized line items to areas that need additional funding, which could include potential raises for BCSO staff.”
Ward pointed out for example, that in the fiscal year 2022-23 (FY23) BCSO budget, the line item for correctional officers (COs) is funded at a level to support 24 COs for 12 months. For most of the past six months, BCSO has employed only 14, according to Christopher. This means that the money marked to pay 10 COs for six months is still left in that line item. It could be transferred somewhere else that it is needed, like to the line item for CO overtime.
In fact, a resolution to complete that exact action was put on the County Commission agenda for December. The resolution proposed to transfer $90,000 within the Sheriff’s budget from the wages line item to cover a shortfall in the overtime line item. During the Commission meeting on Monday, Dec. 19, the resolution passed unanimously with no discussion required.
“I know that by far the majority of our County Commissioners are willing to support the Sheriff’s Office. But, we all must act to be fiscally responsible in this county, and to do that we cannot dip into the County General Fund whenever there is a budgetary shortfall,” Ward explained. “We have to work within our approved budgets as much as possible to move money around from areas where money is available to areas where money is needed.”
At the end of the day, Ward said he is only asking the Sheriff’s Office, and any other county office, to make sure they have used all available money in their approved budgets before asking for more.
“I have told the Sheriff that obviously I am not trying to run his department, but I would like to help things run more smoothly if I can,” Ward said. “I am willing to do whatever I can to help resolve these budgetary issues. I think we both agree that we can work together to make Benton County better.”
