THE AGENCY
Department is smaller than its neighbors
In scal year 2021, Rappahannock County budgeted $1,945,984 for the Sheri ’s O ce, about 7.3 percent of the county’s overall budget. The cost covers 14 sworn o cers, two court baili s, and nine communications sta ers who handle general inquiries, 911 calls, and dispatch operations. The budget also includes 16 patrol vehicles, o ce equipment and supplies.
The RCSO force is smaller when compared with several neighboring counties. On a per capita basis there is one sworn o cer per 455 residents. A sworn o cer is vested with full law enforcement powers and authority. By comparison, neighboring Warren
County has one sworn o cer for 360 residents; this includes o cers from the Front Royal Police Department.
Base starting pay for a new deputy is $34,474, an amount set by the State Compensation Board. However, RCSO often hires new deputies in the $36,000 to $38,000 range, relying on county funds to cover the difference. By comparison Warren County pays its newly hired deputies $42,406 annually.
Deputies receive their law enforcement training at the Skyline Regional Criminal Justice Academy in Middleton, Va., which includes required continuing education and recertification every two years through the academy’s Police One program. The program covers antibias, civil rights, cultural awareness, community policing and responding to emotional or mental health situations. Officers are also trained to administer roadside sobriety tests, radar speed measurements, and doses of NARCAN, used to counteract the life-threatening effects of an opioid overdose.
Deputies and civilian staff work 12-hour shifts that usually change at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. To ensure staffers get every other weekend off, shifts alternate two or three days a week with two days off in between. During the day shift there is usually one patrol deputy on duty and at night two patrol deputies. On weekends, two patrol deputies and a supervisor work the night shi .