Commissioners grant $260,000 more in budget for sheriff

MADISON COUNTY, Tenn. — Commissioners approved more than $260,000 Tuesday morning to add to the Madison County Sheriff’s Department.

“Right now, we’re at the point where we can’t go beyond where we are and everybody understands that,” Commissioner Gary Deaton said.

Sheriff John Mehr said deputy overtime required him to ask for more money.

“The problem is, we lost some deputies in the jail and on patrol, so we’re trying to fill those positions, and when they’re filled, we’ll start the next group,” Mehr said.

County officials said the sheriff’s total department budget is about a million dollars more than they originally planned. Now there’s about $1 million left for the county to spend without it affecting other budget areas such as bond ratings.

“This could affect the bond rating, and that’s something we are definitely concerned with,” Deaton said after the meeting.

Not only is the sheriff dealing with staffing issues in the jail, but he says they also are dealing with a greater number of patients with mental health issues. Nationally, around 30 percent of inmates are dealing with mental health concerns when they begin their sentence.

“People have been addicted to drugs, they come off the drugs, so they’ve got all types of issues,” Sheriff Mehr said.

Part of the cost is also that local hospitals have been sending more of these inmates to Nashville, and two deputies are required to escort each of them. They’re required to rotate out every 12 hours.

“They come in and it’s a cure-all for them because they get all their health-related problems taken care of,” the sheriff said. “Then they go back and they’re in better health when they leave than they came, but look who paid for it.”

Officials said they’ve been working with mental health consultants with federal grants at no cost to the county. The sheriff said there currently are about 100 deputies on staff including jailers and patrol officers.