Sheriff Lupe Valdez Outlines Her 2008 Budget Priorities

July 31, 2007

DALLAS — In a presentation before the media, Dallas Sheriff Lupe Valdez today laid out her department's budget priorities for Fiscal Year 2008, which center around continuing the progress achieved by the Sheriff's administration in the Dallas County Jail. The Sheriff specifically asked the Commissioners Court to provide funding for needed staffing positions not included in the draft budget prepared by the Dallas County Budget Office.

"Over the last two and a half years, my Department and I have worked hard to correct the dire situation that I inherited. I appreciate the support I've received from Commissioner John Wiley Price, in particular, during this process. However, to build a stable, sustainable future for this Department, we need to achieve sufficient staffing levels," said Sheriff Valdez.

The Dallas County budgeting process involves multiple steps and drafts. Earlier this year, the Sheriff's Department submitted their budget request and priorities to the County's budget office, which in turn prepares a draft budget for the Commissioners Court. Later today, Sheriff Valdez and members of the executive staff will appear before the Commissioners Court to discuss areas that demand further consideration. The Commissioners Court will determine whether to revise the draft budget by September 15. The new fiscal year begins on October 1, 2007.

The draft budget for the Sheriff's Department is approximately $126 million. Over a quarter of the Department's budget is funded by revenues generated within the Department. The Sheriff's Department comprises 36% of the Dallas County government workforce, and roughly 25% of the budget outlays. Roughly 70% of Department expenditures involved the Dallas County Jail system.

Progress in the Sheriff's Department

Since Sheriff Valdez took office in January 2005, the Department has worked diligently to address deep structural problems that developed over the preceding 20 years. In the past two years, the Sheriff's Department has:

Hired 400 new detention service officers, bringing the total number of guards up from 850 to over 1,200;
Partnered with Parkland Hospital to improve the quality of healthcare available to jail inmates;
Expanded its highway patrol system to include over 78 miles of in-County highways;
Revised its commissary contracting system, which has led to a nearly $2 million increase in revenue;
Dramatically improved jail sanitation and maintenance;
Revised intake procedures to prevent the spread of contagious diseases within the jail system and the community;
Begun construction on the new South Tower jail facility.

Achieving this progress has required an increase in the Department's personnel and budget. It has also required coordination with other County agencies and officials.

Priority: Jail Supervision

The Department's budget request for Fiscal Year 2008 included nearly 500 positions in the Department. These positions included more detention service officers for the jail, management and administrative officers, training and background inspection personnel and staff for other key Department operations. Less than half of these positions have been marked for future, need-to-hire consideration.

Similarly, last year's budget included none of the 700 positions requested, though over 250 new employees were eventually added on a case by case basis.

"The budget process is one of balancing many different priorities. However, some of the positions excluded from the County's draft budget and some of those marked for future consideration are critically needed," said Sheriff Valdez. "Without sufficient staffing, we will not be able to continue our progress towards compliance with state and federal jail requirements."

Along with immediate approval for needed detention service officers and deputies, the Sheriff has identified several excluded positions that she hopes the Commissioners Court will reconsider. Among these positions are 34 detention service supervisors and managers needed in the North and West jail towers. Presently, a supervisor shortage in these towers has resulted in their supervisor-to-guard ratio becoming out of sync with Department standards and procedures in comparable facilities.

In the North Tower, there is one supervisor for every 37 guards, while the West tower has one supervisor for every 34 guards. Other jails maintain a one supervisor for every 12 guards ratio.

"The hiring of supervisors for our two main jails has not kept pace with the hiring of detention service officers. Providing adequate oversight and management is key to continuing our progress towards jail compliance. I ask the Commissioners Court to provide the required funding for these supervisors," said Sheriff Valdez.

Priorities: Investigation & Training Staff, Dispatcher Pay

Similarly, the increased rate of hiring needed to address the problems in the Dallas County Jail has created onerous workloads for training and background investigation staff members. Presently, each background investigator routinely has 85 open investigations, compared to an average of 20 open cases in comparable Departments.

The Sheriff's Department has also identified other critical priorities not included in the County Budget Office's draft budget, including supervisors at the Bond Desk and Property Vault and pay for dispatchers. While pay in many other areas of the Department is competitive, Sheriff's Department dispatchers make nearly $6,000 less than dispatchers in comparable area police departments.

"Increased pay will help us address turnover amongst dispatchers. Today, we're effectively training dispatchers for other departments, as our new dispatchers often seek higher paying positions elsewhere. We need the Commissioners Court's help in addressing this uncompetitive pay," said Sheriff Valdez.

A New Sheriff's Department

The Sheriff's Department's 2008 budget represents a major change from the budgetary structure and priorities present prior to Sheriff Valdez's election. In the last two years, the Sheriff has led a countywide effort to address the deep-set issues she inherited, particularly the compliance problems at the Dallas County Jail.

"The people of Dallas elected me to restore the Department's reputation and its compliance with state and federal laws. As I've led the Department towards that restoration, I appreciate the support of my staff, the efforts of other county agencies such as Parkland, the District Attorney's office, Dallas's judges and constables, and the funding we've received from the Commissioners Court. We must continue on an aggressive road to progress," said Sheriff Valdez.

This article is based on a press release initially distributed by the Dallas County Sheriff's Department.

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