It's the last straw, says sheriff

By Doug Thompson

Floyd County Sheriff Shannon Zeman told the board of supervisors Tuesday his office cannot absorb any more budget cuts at a time when break-ins and other crimes are rising at an alarming rate.
Zeman said a new cut of $33,745 from state funding sources is the last straw.
The cuts come, he said, when his investigators are dealing with a rash of break-ins throughout the county and one investigator has four sexual molestation investigations underway.
"I can't take any more patrol cars off the road or lay off any more deputies," Zeman said. "We have to be able to do our jobs."
The latest round of funding cuts from the state compensation board is rippling through all county offices where officials struggled through the budget process earlier this year to hang on to staff and provide services to residents.
Zeman said his budget is at a breaking point.
"We have to do something," he said.
In another budget-related matter before the board Tuesday, supervisors discovered that funds from a recent bond issue can be used to buy more sheriff's department patrol cars and vehicles for other departments but cannot be used for construction projects like proposed additions to county fire department stations.
In July, in response to a request from the fire department station in Willis for $70,000 for construction of an addition to the building, supervisors asked County Administrator Dan Campbell to check and see if funds from the bond issue could be used for such projects.
Campbell told the board Tuesday that his conversation with state officials found that construction projects like the fire department proposal did not fall under the list of acceptable uses for the funds but the funds could be used to help with purchase of vehicles like a new solid waste disposal truck or new patrol cars for the Sheriff.
Campbell said the state suggested the county might want to consult with an attorney on the matter, but the supervisors felt the county did not need to incur any new legal fees for such an opinion.
The county does not have a full-time county attorney but contracts legal services with a law firm that specializes in representing rural governments. Researching such an action would fall outside the firm's normal retainer and would mean new legal bills.