BALLOT QUESTION ONE
The citizens of Douglas County will be facing a critically important decision in the upcoming election on November 7th.
Before you will be a ballot proposal asking you to approve a sales tax increase of ½ cent, with the funding devoted to the Douglas County Criminal Justice System. These funds will be dedicated to hiring additional Deputies, Court staff and District Attorney staff. The proposal will also set limits on funding for the Sheriff’s Office from the County’s general fund.
As you are certainly aware, Douglas County has grown substantially over the last decade. Earlier this year, state demographers indicated that population had exceeded 50,000 residents. During this same 10 year period, the Sheriff’s Office has grown from approximately 91 total sworn personnel in 1995 to an authorized level of 102 in 2005. At the time of this printing, the Sheriff’s Office has 7 vacancies.
During this period of unprecedented growth, the calls for service for the Sheriff’s Office has grown from approximately 35,000 calls annually in 1995, to over 95,000 calls in 2005.
In 2005, an exhaustive study, following Department of Justice standards, was completed in the Sheriff’s Office. This study addressed all facets of the operations including calls for service, population, geographic distribution, case loads, crime rates and a variety of other law enforcement functions.
The results of this objective study indicated that the Sheriff’s Office was understaffed by 45 officers. Sheriff Ron Pierini presented the findings of the study to the County Commissioners and was told that the county budget could not support the hiring of the required staff.
Upon receiving input from Justice and District Court judges, the District Attorney’s Office, the Sheriff, and various community leaders, the County Commission voted unanimously to approve placing the tax measure on the ballot.
We urge you to vote in favor of this proposal.
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