Statement from the Madison County Sheriff’s Office about filing suit due to lack of funding for department.
The number one responsibility of the Madison County Sheriff’s office is to ensure that our citizens are safe, secure, and that we have the officers we need to service our community’s needs. Tennessee law creates a mechanism for Sheriffs to correct a lack of proper funding.
Sheriff John Mehr took action to address critical resource deficits in the Office’s budget. Mehr, supported by his legal counsel Nathan Bicks of Birch, Porter, and Johnson, PLLC, filed suit against Madison County, due to the lack of funding necessary to serve and protect the citizens of Madison County.
“After many sleepless nights and prayer, I knew it was the right decision to pursue this action and to stand up for my employees, who are the heart and soul of our department” Mehr explained. “I swore an oath to serve and protect the citizens of Madison County and that is what I am going to do.”
Budget constraints have greatly restricted Mehr’s ability to recruit and retain law enforcement officers, with 17 deputies leaving the Madison County Sheriff’s Office this year alone, of which, at least 12 left to accept new positions with better compensation at other law enforcement agencies. In addition, with our jails above capacity this year, we had 29 correction officers leave our employment and currently have 12 vacant positions.
Madison County encompasses approximately 558 square miles with over 690 miles of road to patrol in Madison County and an additional 400 miles of road in the City of Jackson. In addition, there are 165.4 miles of state highways and 27.9 miles of Interstate Highways in Madison County.
The Madison County Sheriff’s Office is presently composed of 284 full time employees and 12 part-time employees. There are currently 49 patrol division deputies to monitor six patrol zones that operate in three shifts 24 hours a day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year. The Chief Deputy of the Sheriff’s Office for Madison County conducted a staffing study in December 2018 which indicated the need to add four deputies to second shift and two deputies to third shift to have the patrol strength to perform all of the necessary statutory and constitutional duties required of the Sheriff’s Office.
Additionally, the Sheriff’s Office has 125 full-time POST (Tennessee Peace Officer Standards and Training) certified deputies. The ratio of deputies in Madison County is currently only 1.28 officers per 1,000 residents, well below the national average of 2.0 officers per 1,000 residents. Within Tennessee counties of similar demographics, the average is 1.43 deputies per 1,000 population. The Madison County Sheriff’s Office is operating with 0.15 officers per 1,000 residents less than similar Tennessee counties. This equates to 13-15 deputies short of comparable Tennessee counties.
In addition to law enforcement oversight, the Sheriff’s Office budget is required to allocate an extensive amount of resources including, but not limited, to school resource officers, correction officers, and other essential employees. The budget provides for judicial and courthouse security, food, bedding, and medical care for jails, and responders for all 911 calls in Madison County. The Sheriff’s Office is also responsible for assisting in enforcement with other law enforcement agencies, summoning jurors, investigating vehicular accidents, death investigations, fugitives, and all other serious felonies and crimes including domestic violence, and missing persons.
It is clear that the current funding provided is not sufficient to complete all of the necessary functions of the Madison County Sheriff’s Office. Today’s legal action is a step towards ensuring that the citizens of Madison County are protected under an appropriate budget that will allow Sheriff Mehr the critical resources needed to continue to serve and protect Madison County.
(PHOTO: Madison County Sheriff John Mehr)
