Garland County seeks grant for deputies
HOT SPRINGS — Federal funds are available to expand the Garland County sheriff’s office’s patrol division, providing a chance of funding the county denied the department last year.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS, grant the Garland County Quorum Court authorized the sheriff’s office to apply for last week would fund 75% of the salary and benefits for four patrol deputies for three years. A $151,259 match for the balance of the $605,037 total cost would be required.
“Calls for service have continually gone up to where our patrol deputies go from call to call all day long 24 hours a day with very little downtime,” Sheriff Mike McCormick told the Quorum Court. “This will allow four additional patrol deputies on the street.”
Justices of the peace tabled the sheriff’s office’s request in October for two new deputy positions in its 2020 budget, telling the agency they wanted to compare actual revenue with projected revenue before funding new personnel. They pledged to revisit the request in June, when the county had a clearer picture of revenue from its share of the casino gaming taxes levied on Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort.
Compared with the 0.50% share of net receipts the county received from Oaklawn’s games of skill, revenue from its 8% share of the 13% tax applied to Oaklawn’s first $150 million of annual net gaming receipts has more than doubled. According to information provided by the county finance department, the county realized $816,645 from July 1, when the tax went into effect, through last month.
Justices of the peace told the department last year the county could be in a position to consider funding four new deputy positions by mid-2020. The two proposed by the sheriff’s office would give the patrol division seven deputies per shift, the department said last year, augmenting the four to six responsible for policing more than 700 square miles.
“Last year when we were running through the budget we were a little unsure of our revenue stream, so we held off on any new hires,” County Judge Darryl Mahoney told the Quorum Court. “Then we were made aware of this grant.”
Mahoney said he plans to ask the Quorum Court to create and fund a grant administrator position if the grant is awarded to the county.
“It can fund up to four positions for three years,” he said. “Trying to keep the paperwork straight on those is going to be a large task. There’s a lot of areas we’ve come across to apply for grants. If we had a good grant administrator they could find enough grants to more than pay their way. Most every grant has provisions in it to pay for an administrator.”
The Quorum Court would have to create and appropriate funding for the four positions if the county gets the grant. Starting salary for a patrol deputy is $38,903, according to information provided by the county.
The Quorum Court approved a $250,000 appropriation from the Ouachita Memorial Hospital sale fund to pay for the acquisition of 518 and 510 W. Grand Ave.
Mahoney told justices of the peace last month that the county intends to convert the properties into additional parking for the Garland County Courts Building on Ouachita Avenue. He said $175,000 was offered for 518 W. Grand Ave. and $42,500 for the backside of 510 W. Grand.
The appropriation will go to the general revenue capital improvement fund. The $863,000 transferred to the fund from the OMH sale fund at the start of the year was allocated to the $299,555 balance of the county’s public safety communications upgrade, $355,000 for repairs to the old Hot Springs National Guard Armory on Woodbine Street, $75,000 for repairs to the county courthouse’s exterior and $54,866 for fire alarm equipment in the Garland County 911 Communications Center and the sheriff’s office’s criminal investigation division.
The OMH sale fund had a more than $8.3 million balance at the end of last month.