BY JEFF CHUDZINSKI
North Country This Week

CANTON – St. Lawrence County legislators are taking steps to cover overtime expenses within the Sheriff’s Office due to what officials are calling extenuating staffing difficulties.

In a unanimous vote legislators approved a $78,000 budget modification for the Sheriff’s Office during the legislature's full board meeting on Feb. 6.

Officials say the modification is the second in recent months to cover similar expenses at the county jail. A total of $245,000 in overtime expenses has been covered through jail account balances, targeted and untargeted contingency funds.

Undersheriff Sean O’Brien addressed the issue head on during the legislature’s Jan. 9 operations committee meeting, telling legislators that significant staffing issues and extenuating circumstances have continued to cause problems for the department.

"As you are all aware, we've had a significant staffing issue over the last several months, really a couple of years. This board as well as our office has taken great steps to remedy the situation," O'Brien said.

The Sheriff's Office currently still has three vacant part-time positions but has been able to fill the remaining full-time positions.

O'Brien told the committee at the time that COVID outbreaks and holiday expenses have created a need for the budget modification to cover the additional overtime expenses incurred.

Another expense O’Brien highlighted for the committee was the need to have one single individual on watch, which entailed 24/7 one-on-one supervision for 35 days straight.

The watch required also drove up overtime costs significantly due to minimum staffing requirements.

That situation alone accounted for $37,000 of the $78,000 budget modification.

An increased jail population, which stands at 123 or 16% higher than Jan. 2022, also poses a significant challenge.

"As we are all aware, the mental health issues are not going away. The drug issues are not going away. We are anticipating an increase going into the new year. It's unfortunate, but that's where we're at," O'Brien said.

O'Brien also told legislators that the medical assistance program at the jail is nearly full, with 51% of all prisoners enrolled in the program.

The MAP program is designed to offer medical treatment for inmates who require treatment for substance issues.

Such expenses are expected to continue to accrue, driving up costs for the Sheriff’s Office.

Though finances are being stressed currently, O’Brien did note during the Jan. 9 meeting that the county would be reimbursed for every state prisoner who is held at the county jail for 10 or more days.

The reimbursement from the state will be $100 per day, per prisoner, according to O'Brien.

"We will see money coming in on the revenue side," he said.

During the Jan. 9 operations committee meeting, Legislator Harry Smithers questioned the total expense of overtime for the watch of the one inmate, saying the $37,000 seemed excessive.

O'Brien broke down the figures, saying because of staffing issues and minimum staffing requirements an additional officer from the corrections department would have to watch the inmate.

Because of the staffing issues, all 24 hours in a day would come at the overtime rate, O'Brien said.

Legislator Margaret Haggard also questioned the current staffing at the correctional facility, asking if staffing issues may be leading to increased overtime expenses.

Within the correctional facility, a staff shortage will also complicate matters with 13 provisional hires set to go into the academy.

"These 13 people we hired provisionally, we don't know if they've passed the test. We don't know where we're at and if they're reachable on the list. And now we'll have to get these people training," O'Brien said.