Trumbull sheriff wants more workers

WARREN — The Trumbull County Sheriff’s Department wants an additional $1.9 million in 2007 over its current budget of $8.5 million, with part of the money to pay for five corrections officers in the jail and three deputies to patrol the courthouse.

The department’s budget works out to an increase of 22.4 percent over 2006, but it would be 27.6 percent if an arbiter decides Jan. 3 to award sheriff’s department employees the county’s latest three-year pay offer, which is increases of 2 percent, 2 percent and 2.5 percent. The arbitrator could also rule for the union’s offer, which is increases of 4 percent, 4.25 percent and 4 percent.

Chief Deputy Ernie Cook said the request for the five corrections officers is being made because of a jury’s verdict last week in Cleveland federal court. The jury said the department’s practice of using two seniority lists — one female and one male — for job bidding purposes is discriminatory.

Cook said the department has still not decided how it will respond to the verdict, which awarded damages of $475,000 to seven female corrections officers. The department is adding the corrections officers to the budget request in the event that such hiring becomes necessary, Cook said.

The five officers would add about $175,000 to the 2007 budget.

The addition of the three deputies for courthouse security would add about $150,000 to the 2007 budget, he said.

The department added two deputies at the courthouse in recent weeks after the four common pleas court judges signed a journal entry requesting more protection. That came after a murder defendant was assaulted in one of the courtrooms and the videotaped footage was broadcast across the country.

Cook said a third deputy would be added to the courthouse sometime in 2007.

He explained that the department expanded from nine deputies to 13 working road patrols in the northern part of the county in July. That puts between two and five deputies on the job at a time, and that staffing would continue in 2007 under the sheriff’s budget request.

The other increases in the proposed budget besides the employees is for such things as gasoline, health care benefits and other employee benefits, he said.

Commissioner Paul Heltzel said he would have to examine the budget in more detail before he could evaluate whether the   proposal contained any unreasonable requests.

Auditor Adrian Biviano said the total amount of budget requests this year came to $45.8 million, which is $3.8 million more than the $42 million contained in the 2006 budget. The good news is that with two weeks left in 2006, departments have kept spending to just $38 million, he said.