Page 18
The INDEPENDENT, June 16, 2011
From the Sheriff’s Desk…
by Jeff Dickerson,
Columbia County Sheriff
Making Lemonade
from Lemons
The failure of the Sheriff’s
Stable Funding campaign has
meant that the reductions for
the Sheriff’s Office in the com-
ing fiscal year (beginning July
1) will go ahead as planned. It
is my hope that citizens expe-
riencing the effects of the reduced services from my
office will understand that these cuts are the inevitable
result of reductions in funding and not in any way in-
tended as a punishment for not approving the levy.
As Sheriff, I want you to know that I view it my sa-
cred responsibility to do the best I can with the re-
sources committed to us – however small they be-
come – to solve the public safety problems we con-
front in our communities. I also believe it is important
for me to explain the cuts we are making and how they
will affect our service levels.
Columbia County started this new fiscal year with a
6.4 percent decrease in revenue and a 7.1 percent in-
crease in costs of current services, which translated
into a $2.8 million budget shortfall. The Sheriff’s Office
reduced its share of the County General fund by al-
most 25 percent, but made up for much of the decline
with increased use of jail beds by the federal govern-
ment for U.S. Marshals’ inmates. Still, we had to lay off
three positions in the jail and eliminate one patrol
deputy position to balance our budget.
The loss of yet another patrol position now means
we have lost half the authorized strength of our patrol
force in the two-and-a-half years since I became Sher-
iff. With just five deputies to cover the 657 square
miles of our county 24 hours a day and seven days a
week, we are spread too thin to have any kind of de-
Please see page 22
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