Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
DAVENPORT—The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office is facing critical staffing levels within its jail/dispatch staff, interim Sheriff Gabe Gants told the Lincoln County Commissioners Monday, Aug. 1.
Deputy Matt Chalmers resigned his post, which wasn’t a shock to the office, but does leave the already short-staffed group even more spread thin.
“We haven’t even had any applicants,” Gants told the commissioners.
Gants said the office has been running status quo otherwise since former Sheriff Wade Magers retired, minus an undersheriff, which was also vacated in June following Kelly Watkins’ retirement.
“(Chief Criminal Deputy) Kody Becker steps in if we need him to, but so far, we haven’t really needed that,” Gants said.
The office is also actively trying to recruit patrol deputies to work in Lincoln County but has faced obstacles along the way.
“We’ll call three people on our list, and the day before they interview, they take a job elsewhere,” Gants said.
“I hear about this happening all over,” commissioner Rob Coffman responded. “It’s not just here.”
The silver lining for the office’s critical staffing levels is that despite the increase in fuel prices, the department is close to its previous projections in that budget because of staff shortages, Gants said. Prices do remain a budgetary concern, however.
“Right now we’re where we should be because we’re down about four guys,” he said. “But it’s hard to project what next year will look like.”
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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