Carroll will get nine new public safety positions, but it?s uncertain which agency will most benefit.
Commissioners plan to fund the new positions in their proposed budget for next year, which they introduced last week, including three sworn police positions to keep up with the county?s ratio of 1.3officers to 1,000 residents. That officer-to-population ratio is among the lowest in the state.
But those positions are not allocated to the Sheriff?s Office or the Resident Trooper Program, the last in the state in which the county contracts state troopers to patrol it.
Commissioners have yet to take their next step toward deciding a top police agency after the General Assembly passed a bill requiring a referendum if commissioners move forward with a plan to create a county police department with an appointed chief.
The past few years, the Sheriff?s Office has grown to maintain its officer-to-population ratio. Sheriff Kenneth Tregoning, backed by sheriffs throughout the state and vocal residents, criticized commissioners for not holding a public hearing before voting for a county department.
Ted Zaleski, the county?s budget director, said his office looks to fund the most pressing needs, and commissioners made public safety and education, which year after year takes up about half of the county?s budget, their top priorities.
“When we started this process, we had very little flexibility to deal with things we didn?t know about yet,” Zaleski said.
The nine public safety positions include:
n An extradition fugitive technician for the State?s Attorney?s Office;
n A legal assistant and a judicial assistant for the courts;
n Two court security officers and an administrative assistant for the Sheriff?s Office;
n Three officers that have yet to be assigned to an agency.
Commissioners had $5.6 million left over in the proposed budget that is not allocated to anything, and they said it would have to be used for a one-time project.
