Sheriff’s Office days will roll over

Time is rolling over for some county employees.

Jay County Commissioners OK’d a request Monday from Jay County Sheriff Ray Newton to allow rolling over employees’ vacation, flex and personal time into 2024 in an attempt to cut down on overtime pay. Employees must use their time by June 1.

Commissioners also heard a proposition from Ritter Strategic Services to provide consultation regarding the purchase of new emergency responder radios.

“We (have been) so short-staffed these last few months that I’m trying to avoid paying overtime,” explained Newton, suggesting the county roll over employees’ vacation days as a temporary solution. (Employees would need to decide whether they want to roll over their time or take it before the end of the year.)

Commissioner Chad Aker recalled in 2022 when Jay County Highway Department requested rolling over vacation time into the new year because employees wouldn’t be able to use all their days leftover before January. At that time, Aker noted, they agreed to handle such requests on a case-by-case basis.

“Obviously, we’re not encouraging it to happen, but in some instances you can have it,” he said.

As of last week, Newton pointed out, Jay County Jail was short five correctional officers. Two new correctional officers and two new dispatchers were hired recently. Although Jay County Sheriff’s Office has a full staff of deputies, Newton added that two deputies will be attending the police academy in January.

“It’s just, we can’t find the help anymore. Not like we used to,” said Newton.

Commissioner Brian McGalliard asked county auditor Emily Franks for her opinion on the matter. She said she understood Newton’s reasoning, but expressed some concerns. Franks asked if there would be any guarantee employees use their vacation days “within a reasonable amount of time.”

County attorney Wes Schemenaur recommended putting a deadline on the extension. As a representative of several local municipalities, he said he has seen the same issue before.

“It’s a snowball thing,” he said. “You know, (if) you’re short-staffed next year, they’ve rolled over 40 hours from the year before, and Jan. 1, all of sudden they get ‘X’ number of hours additional, and you know, it just keeps going and going and going to the point where, what do you do with that? They’re never going to be able to take 200 days off.”

Commissioners decided to allow the rollover with the stipulation that time must be used by June 1.

Also Monday, Newton introduced commissioners to Barry Ritter, former Indiana 911 director and police officer in Richmond. Ritter has been offering public safety consulting to local governments through Ritter Strategic Services for about seven years.

“When I started this company, I was the state 911 director, and it became very apparent that local government … needed someone sitting on their side of the table,” explained Ritter. “Versus vendors coming in and telling you what your problem was, telling you what the solution to that is, and then having you spend a great deal of money and coming out the back end of the project, and it (may) not necessarily be what it was you thought you were going to get or what it was you needed.”

He offered his services, which would include providing assessments and recommendations to the county about the purchase options for emergency responder radios. Ritter said he doesn’t have a price nailed down for Jay County’s needs yet, but he compared similar services cost Wayne County about $80,000 recently, and a smaller county that he didn’t name to about $63,000.

Aker noted the county has been looking into purchasing new radios for years.

“The problem is, we don’t know what we actually need,” he said. “We do need some type of a consultant on this in my opinion.”

Newton pointed out law enforcement has had difficulties with the current system. Mike Weitzel, chief of Portland Fire Department, added that the system is “antiquated” and needs to be updated.

“It’s working sufficiently, but in some point in time, we’re going to be a point where there’s not a fix for it,” Weitzel said.

Newton also added some of the municipal departments may not be able to afford the switch and may need help in funding the purchase of new radios.

“We’re not out here to leave anyone in the cold,” he said. “I just want to make sure, whatever we buy is going to last for quite a few years.”

“We need to act on it quick, because it’s been two years, three years, and we still haven’t made a decision,” he added. “We need to do something now, at least for the sheriff’s office, because our radio system is going out.”

Commissioners made no formal decision on the matter Monday but suggested Ritter forward a contract proposal to Schemenaur to review.