Cleveland County Sheriff Details Decision To Cut Jobs, Blames Budget Constraints

Sheriff Chris Amason announced in mid-September the reduction of 24 positions from the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office, citing budget constraints as the driving factor behind this difficult decision.

On Wednesday, he talked about why he felt forced to reduce his staff. “It’s heartbreaking, something I never wanted to do,” Sheriff Amason said.

However, Sheriff Amason says it’s something he had to do, cutting 24 positions from his office.“To be able to stay within the appropriations that were given to us then we have to do,” he said. “They’re setting me up for failure.”

Amason explained that several months into the new fiscal year, the sheriff’s office has not received its full funding of nearly $20 million. This shortfall forced him to act now to ensure the office remains within budget for the remainder of the year.

“If you tell me I’m getting this much for my budget but yet I only get $14 million, how am I expected to operate and not have to make the cuts that I’ve made,” Sheriff Amason said. “I would love to hear them tell me where the rest of the money is because it’s not here.”

However, the numbers add up according to Cleveland County Commissioner Rod Cleveland. “He has a revenue of almost $20 million and that’s what he has to work with, and we even looked at it to see and make sure he had an eight percent increase,” Commissioner Cleveland said.

Data released by Cleveland’s office, show the sheriff’s office has $15,295,000 as of August 31. Cleveland says the office should receive additional cash receipts totaling a projected amount of $3,980,000 million over the next 10 months. That along with anticipated grant money of $300,000 should potentially bring the budget up to 19.5 million.

“That’s not revenue we can depend on, what we have to depend on is this $14 million that we’ve been given,” Sheriff Amason said. 

The sheriff clarified that most of the eliminated positions were administrative, and the reported nine job cuts at the jail were inaccurate. He stated that the jail staff, consisting of around 100 deputies and detention officers, only lost three clerical positions.

“We are not eliminating the staffing positions that are working with the inmates out there,” he said. 

Additionally, Amason mentioned that senior staff and supervisors have had their salaries cut, but that no deputies responsible for courthouse security or patrol duties were laid off.

“My priority is to maintain public safety in Cleveland County,” Sheriff Amason said.

The county budget board is scheduled to review the sheriff’s revised budget at its next meeting in October. The sheriff’s office is also currently undergoing a state audit.