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Duties, Future Needs |
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Staff Blogs -
Sheriff Gobble Speaks
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Written by Tim Gobble, Sheriff
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Saturday, 28 October 2006 |
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The purpose of this entry is to keep lines of communication open with you and keep you advised of the varied statutory duties, responsibilities and future needs of the sheriff’s office.
Dear Citizens,
The purpose of this letter is to keep lines of communication open with you and keep you advised of the varied statutory duties, responsibilities and future needs of the sheriff’s office.
According to Tennessee law, “the sheriff is the conservator of the peace, and it is the sheriff’s duty to suppress all affrays, riots, routs, unlawful assemblies, insurrections, or other breaches of the peace. It is the sheriff’s duty to ferret out, detect, and prevent crime; to secure evidence of crimes; and to apprehend and arrest criminals.”
The sheriff is also charged with “patrolling the roads of the county.
“The duties and powers of the sheriff within the limits of an incorporated city are precisely the same as they are in the remainder of the county. The law draws no distinction” and the sheriff “is the commander in chief of all law forces of the county.” The sheriff is charged with the “custody and security of the courthouse and the courts.”
“It is the duty of the sheriff to execute and return, according to law, the process and orders of the courts of record of this state.
“Tennessee case law makes it clear that the sheriff, by virtue of his office, is the jailer and is entitled to the custody of the jail.”
Additional statutory duties are also set forth in Tennessee law and involve such matters as disposition of evidence, investigation of child abuse cases, maintaining a sex offender registry, reporting crime information to the TBI, summoning jurors, transporting persons with mental illness, transporting juveniles to youth development centers and a host of other duties, including POST certifications and training.
The sheriff is also authorized to perform other ex officio duties such as operating a county workhouse.
Pursuant to T.C.A. 8-20-120, the county legislative body is required to fund the operations of the sheriff’s office.
Accordingly, the county legislative body is authorized to appropriate moneys to purchase all necessary equipment for use by the sheriff for the preservation of the peace and for the service and execution of all process, criminal and civil, and to pay the salaries of deputy sheriffs appointed pursuant to Title 8, Chapter 20. T.C.A. 5-9-101 (21). All necessary supplies of all kinds used in the conduct of the sheriff’s office are to be furnished and paid for by the county. T.C.A. 8-22-107(a).
Additionally, the sheriff is authorized to include in the sheriff’s expenses of the office, the necessary cost of arresting criminals, of furnishing and operating the county jail and maintaining the state and county prisoners therein, and all other necessary and legitimate expenses incurred in the proper and efficient administration of the sheriff’s office. T.C.A. 8-22-110 (a).
According to Tennessee case law, “The sheriff has the sole discretion to request the number of assistants he believes are actually necessary to the proper conducting of his office, as well as the salaries he feels are necessary to attract and retain them” Shelby County Deputy Sheriff’s Association v. Gilless, 972 S.W.2d 683,686 (Tenn Ct. App. 1007). The county legislative body may not adopt a budget that reduces below current levels the salaries and number of employees in the sheriff’s office without the sheriff’s consent. In the event the county legislative body fails to budget any salary expenditure that is necessary for the discharge of the statutorily mandated duties of the sheriff, the sheriff may seek a writ of mandamus to compel such appropriation. T.C.A. 8-20-120.
Under the law, “the county sheriff has two options through which he may obtain authority to employ and compensate personnel to assist him to “properly and efficiently conduct the affairs and transact the business” of his office. T.C.A. 8-20-101 (a) (Supp. 1996). The sheriff may either file a salary petition with the court or if the county executive and the sheriff agree on the number of deputies and assistants to be employed and the salary to be paid to them, a letter of agreement may be prepared and submitted to the court for approval. T.C.A. 8-20-101 (a) (2) & © (Supp. 1996).”
According to law, the sheriff may only employ deputies and other staff under a letter of agreement or a court order. Currently, the BCSO does not have either and will need to comply with this requirement.
“If the sheriff chooses to petition a court for additional deputies or assistants or for greater salaries than the budget adopted by the county legislative body allows, the sheriff must file the petition with the state trial court exercising criminal jurisdiction in the county, either criminal or circuit court. The petition or application for authority to appoint or employ one or more additional deputies or assistants must be heard and determined by a judge serving the judicial district in which the petition or application has been filed. Public Chapter 276 of the Acts of 2005.”
Recently, employees of the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office received notice from the County that the employee cost of family health insurance coverage is rising yet again. This increase will be on top of family health insurance costs to BCSO employees that are already among the highest in the state, double that paid by most law enforcement employees in the region. With this increase, the minimum full coverage policy options provided to BCSO employees will be between $648 and $690 per month, out-of -pocket. This high cost combined with BCSO wages that are significantly below average for a department of our size and responsibility leaves many of our BCSO employees and their families iin precarious positions both financially and with their family insurance coverage options.
For instance, the starting salary for county deputies is approximately $6,000 per year below the starting salary for Cleveland City patrol officers and Rhea County compensates their deputies at significantly higher levels than Bradley County. This is unacceptable for a county of our size and need. This adverse situation has reached the point that it negatively impacts my ability as sheriff to operate the sheriff’s office and attract and retain the quality employees expected by the citizens of Bradley County.
According to county personnel records, approximately 50 percent of the entire BCSO workforce has left employment over the last four years, with only six of those being for retirement purposes. This kind of high volume, revolving door turnover is costing you, the taxpayers too much in terms of lost experience and re-hire/training costs. It is more cost effective in the long run to pay competitive wages and benefits to attract and retain well-qualified, experienced employees than to constantly lose our most important and valuable resources to others.
Over the years, the demands and public expectations of law enforcement across the country have significantly increased, including the demands and expectations of our local community. For instance, the BCSO now provides school resource officers in all our county schools, which when fully staffed requires 17 full-time deputy positions. These SRO positions comprise twice as many positions as I have patrolling, preventing crime and responding to your calls in the remainder of the 333-square-mile county with a population at or near 100,000.
Citizens and court personnel, including judges expect and deserve a higher level of protection and security at all of our courtrooms and court facilities. And in today’s violence prone culture, it is unacceptable for those of us charged with court security not to fully staff and operate metal detectors at all courthouses to minimize the potential of unauthorized weapons being brought into the facility.
Citizens expect deputies to routinely be in their neighborhoods patrolling and preventing crime and when called, deputies are expected and should arrive within a few very short minutes and be trained, prepared and experienced to handle whatever situation they may encounter. When crimes occur, citizens correctly expect the Criminal Investigations Division to be adequately staffed, equipped and trained so that they have a reasonable chance at solving the crime and putting those responsible for committing the crime behind bars.
Citizens expect local law enforcement to be trained in and have access to reasonable technology to assist them in processing crime scenes, and documenting evidence. In today’s high tech environment, citizens expect even smaller departments to have cameras in patrol cars and in jails that serve to protect law enforcement from false accusations, reduce liability, and protect citizens from potential police abuses.
Citizens and the courts expect the sheriff’s office to serve criminal and civil papers within a reasonable time frame and not backlog the system with thousands of unserved warrants as has been the case due to manpower shortages.
Citizens expect the sheriff to operate a county jail that meets reasonable safety and security criteria, protecting officers and inmates alike. Citizens expect law enforcement to be professional and meet professional certification standards, training standards and accreditation standards.
Having kept my campaign pledge to streamline upper management and reduce top-heavy positions at BCSO to save tapayer money, it is now time to begin addressing other highly important needs.
Next year, I will seek a letter of agreement with the county mayor that allows me to eliminate the pay and benefits gap that exists for our BCSO employees, helping to reduce the high rate of attrition the sheriff’s office has experienced.
I will submit a budget that contains the necessary deputies/investigators and operational funding to “properly conduct and transact the business of the sheriff’s office.” It is my firm belief the citizens of this county fully support a sheriff’s office that is properly staffed, funded and equipped to protect and serve their needs.
If for some reason, a letter of agreement cannot be reached, I will, as required by law, petition the court for an order to compel the necessary funding required to meet the statutory obligations of my office.
A number of Tennessee sheriff’s have already been successful before the courts on these matters and I believe the BCSO has more than a reasonable possibility of success before the courts, if it becomes necessary.
Again, thanks for taking the time to read this message. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to call and thanks for your support in this effort.
Sheriff Tim Gobble |
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Last Updated ( Monday, 12 March 2007 )
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