(LOOTPRESS) – Back the blue. This is a request that has been made across the country to encourage support for law enforcement.
The men and women who serve in these positions in our cities, counties, and state see dangerous and difficult situations every day they suit up, start their cruiser, and sign on to their shifts.
Unfortunately, a past County Commission did not back the blue when they made the decision to move the salaries of many of the Fayette County deputies to the law levy.
The Fayette County Sheriff’s Department currently employs 36 deputies and 3 K-9 officers. Of those 36 deputies, 23 have salaries paid for by the levy. This means that every four years, those deputies have to worry about whether the levy will pass so they can keep their job.
The other side of that equation is you, the citizens of Fayette County. You should never have to worry about whether there will be a deputy to respond to your call.
As Commissioner of Fayette County, I firmly believe our citizens should feel safe and the deputies should have job security.
Because of this, I have developed a schedule that will move 6 deputies each year from the law levy onto the general fund. In four years, the plan is for no deputy salaries to rely on the levy.
The current law levy generates $1.3 million dollars. Removing the salaries from this fund will allow them to be used for other projects to support law enforcement, such as the development of a training center that will include much needed classrooms, a gun range, and space for K-9 officers and their handlers to complete training.
This complements the deputy vehicle replacement program approved in 2023. I developed this plan to make sure all deputies have a reliable vehicle, which is critical to their ability to respond to calls.
The Fayette County Sheriff’s Department provides an integral public service to our county. In a five-year period, our deputies responded to an average of over 9,700 calls annually placed to 911.
They are also responsible for other duties, such as serving over 4,000 court documents in one year alone. This is all in a day’s work for our deputies— they serve and protect.
While this may not seem like an important issue to many, it is important to the future of Fayette County. I believe our county has tremendous potential for economic growth and development.
However, this is only possible if we can offer all the public services necessary to attract businesses and people to open those businesses. The safety and security assured through reliable law enforcement are foundational to this growth.
My plan to move the deputies to the general fund rather than continuing to pay them through the law levy helps to guarantee our ability to support those living in Fayette County and those that choose to come here in the future. Simply put: my plan backs the blue. In the upcoming primary election, will you?