Meeting on Thursday, July 25, members of the Carroll County Council were not able to come to agreement concerning the staffing which will be required for the operation of the new Jail which is scheduled to open in September.
Despite a study conducted by a private company which Sheriff Tony Liggett revealed that a staff of 21 would be needed at the new facility, and the county presently has only 7. Council members Tracey Martin and Josh Plue questioned the number, with Plue stating that the State and the study do not have the same recommendations. Martin and Plue expressed the belief that the subject needed a “deeper conversation” about hiring 14 more jail employees.
Council member Jeff Rider asked the Sheriff if he felt that he would be able to fill all the positions, and Liggett said, “absolutely not.” Plue asked Liggett why the private study had a different number than the State jail inspector, and Liggett said the study allowed for absences and vacations. The Sheriff also stated that with 74 inmates for one jailer, county liability would “go through the roof.”
Martin asked about what is lacking now in the plan to move to the new jail, and Sheriff Liggett responded that if they don’t have staff, they can’t make the move. Council President Tim Radcliff said the council previously authorized an increase of five employees and that staffing reports by the State inspector were for the old jail, not the new one. Plue said that three quarters of a million dollars for one line of the budget was consequential and questioned using results from one study. Martin suggested the issue be tabled for discussions.
Radcliff asked “why do we think on day one will be full capacity” at the jail, and asked why the county couldn’t leave current prisoners who are housed in area jails for the present as they currently are being held. Liggett said he would still be short staffed for the new jail. Radcliff suggested that the Sheriff keep applications on file, but Liggett said that applicants would just get another job elsewhere.
Rider made a motion to allow four additional Jailers, and Council member Taylor Fife seconded the motion. Radcliff said he thought they could operate the jail with two more. Liggett said, “your job and mine are different,” and that he had to consider possible legal action against the jail and needed to “cover everyone’s butt.”
The fact that E-911 dispatchers currently operate the doors at the present jail, and that they will no longer be in the same facility, was brought up as contributing to the shortage of employees.
A vote was then held on the Rider motion to approve the hiring of four additional employees, and the vote was a 3-3 tie with Rider, Fife and Scott Ayres in favor and Radcliff, Plue and Martin opposed. Council member Lawrence Stauffer was absent from the meeting.
In continued discussion for a second vote, Martin asked Rider where he intended to find the money, and Rider said he didn’t think they had a choice. Martin then went on to say that everyone believes the county has a lot of money in he General Fund, but that it goes quickly.
Plue said that White County has a larger facility and only has 11 employees, which brought responses questioning where he got those figures which were not the same as others. Radcliff said the 2024 fact book said that they have 20. Martin asked if the figure of 11 was true, why Carroll County needed more. Plue said he would like to know the staffing of 10 other counties which were comparable to Carroll County. Again, called for a vote, the motion failed 5-1 with only Rider voting in favor of authorizing four more employees.
Martin suggested that what was needed was for the Sheriff to sit down with Council members and work something out. Liggett and Radcliff are to meet in early August for discussion, and Martin, Ayres & Radcliff are to do a deep dive with the Sheriff on the issue.
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