County Urged To Accept Grant To Hire 3 Deputies

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Department is asking county commissioners to accept a federal grant and hire three deputies.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced last week that the county is eligible for $225,000. The money will pay about half the deputies’ salaries, benefits and costs to outfit them.

A story Saturday incorrectly reported that the grants had been offered to the Spokane Police Department.

If the grant is accepted, Spokane County Sheriff John Goldman said, the new deputies won’t cost the county a penny for at least two years.

“Because of savings elsewhere in our budget, we’ve been able to come up with the match,” Goldman said Monday.

The three-year grant, which covers up to $25,000 a year per deputy, was part of the Sheriff’s Department’s 1996 budget request for 10 officers, Goldman said.

County commissioners approved adding four deputies last year.

But a tight general fund budget now makes commissioners wary of taking on the expense of adding three more deputies. Their salaries and benefits would be the county’s responsibility once the grant runs out.

“This is by no means a done deal,” said Commissioner John Roskelley. “There are still concerns in the long term.”

A public hearing must be held before the commissioners can approve the hires. It has not yet been scheduled.

, DataTimes