6 could lose jobs, says Floyd County sheriff

By Doug Thompson

Sheriff Shannon Zeman and Commonwealth's Attorney Stephanie Shortt warned Floyd County Supervisors Tuesday that cuts mandated by the Commonwealth could cripple law enforcement in the county.
Zeman said changes in the ratio for officers per population along with budget cuts could reduce his road deputy force by two thirds and effectively end the role of the Sheriff's Department as the law enforcement agency for the county.
"The change in ratio could force me to lay off three of the county's nine road deputies," Zeman told the trustees," Zeman said "and the budget cuts could force me to lay off three more, leaving us with three deputies" to cover the county roads.
Zeman said he could reassign the county's three investigators to road duty but that would cut his ability to investigate crimes.
"It could mean an end to our role as the county's law enforcement agency," he warned.
Shortt said the state's budget cuts could leave her one-attorney office with just herself and a part-time secretary at a time when crime is on the rise in the county and she is facing a year with high-profile cases to prosecute, including a murder case.
"It's not just us," Shortt said. "Other rural counties face the same problems."
Shortt said that unless she finds ways to offset the cuts, she may have to limit prosecutions on misdemeanors.
"We have discretion on some prosecutions," she said. "We may have to look at reducing the number of cases we prosecute.”
Both Shortt and Zeman said they are looking at alternative funding sources, including revenue from traffic enforcement and fees to services previously provided to county residents without charge.
"Some areas charge $35 for a concealed carry permit application," Zeman said. "Others charge if officers get called to a home or business for multiple false alarms."
Zeman said that nearly all of the calls from homes and businesses with alarm systems that trigger an automatic alert to the sheriff's department are from false alarms. The calls increase costs in fuel, manpower resources and wear and tear on vehicles.
"I don't like the idea of having to charge residents for services, but we have to find a way to offset these budget cuts," he said.
The Commonwealth has cut funding provided for salaries of county offices through the State Compensation Board and has reduced state support in other areas.
Zeman said one bright spot from the weather that has dumped up to four feet of snow on the area in three storms since Dec. 18 is a reduction in calls, including home break-ins which have been increasing.
"We've gotten a little break there," he said.
Zeman did get some help from the board when they approved an application for a U.S. Department of Agriculture Grant for purchase of police equipment, including protective vests for the School Entry Unit, new laptops for patrol cars and digital cameras for deputies.
"It's getting harder and harder to get 35mm film developed," Zeman said. "The courts now accept digital images as evidence and we're transitioning all of our deputies to digital cameras."
In another matter related to budget cuts, Social Services Director Carl Ayers told the board he is out of energy assistance money and demands for food stamps and other services continue to rise.
"Previously, we saw about 48-49 percent of those eligible for food stamps actually apply," Ayers said. "Now we have 75 percent applying. "
The board approved transfer of $6,000 from the county contingency fund to Ayers' department to cover some of the cuts supervisors made during last year's budget process.