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Wood County Commission hears budget requests

By Brett Dunlap 5 min read

PARKERSBURG -- Wood County Sheriff Steve Stephens played a recording of one of his deputies in need of assistance from last fall to illustrate the point of needing additional deputies as county officials went before the Wood County Commission Monday with their budget requests.

Stephens, Assessor David Nohe, Prosecutor Pat Lefebure, Circuit Clerk Celeste Ridgway, Extension Agents Jodi Smith and Gwen Crum, 911 Director Rick Woodyard, Day Report Center Director Hernando Escandon and Wood County Clerk Mark Rhodes appeared before the commission on Monday to make requests and talk about what they needed as officials continue working on the 2021-2022 budget.

Stephens told commissioners that he would like to have three additional deputies and three new vehicles.

"I could use 10, but I am asking for three," he said. He currently has 38 deputies.

He played a recording of the call from last October of Lt. J.W. Allen needing assistance during an incident where he used deadly force when he was physically attacked by three subjects during a disturbance on Stillwell Road, killing Paul M. Bailey, 21, of Walker. Earlier this year the Wood County Grand Jury ruled Allen's actions were justified.

Stephens said he wasn't trying to be "overly dramatic" in playing the call, but wanted to illustrate the challenges his people faced when out on calls.

He also talked about how mental hygiene calls usually take five hours or more of a deputy's time and how that can take time away from other calls and to be able to provide backup and assistance to other deputies responding to calls when trouble occurs, like it did with Allen.

Wood County had 692 mental hygiene cases in December and the sheriff said not all of those had to have a deputy involved. However, they have someone dealing with these on a daily basis, he said.

There have been times when there have only been a limited number of deputies out patrolling the county, due to other requirements under state law they had to deal with, Stephens said.

He was also seeking a 5 percent increase in pay for all of his employees.

Stephens commended county officials with their support in dealing with the pandemic in getting plastic barriers put up in offices and having their tax office drive-thru continually operating and to Woodyard securing personal protective equipment for his people.

"Our department was one of the few to stay open the whole time," Stephens said. "I am very proud of that fact."

Commission President Blair Couch said the sheriff's department had the biggest request for additional funding, around $500,000.

Many of the county's other offices kept their budget requests mostly in line with what they asked for last year with many officials asking for money for pay raises. Other acknowledged they had no control over possible increases in insurance costs.

County officials talked about efforts to bring up the base pay for the lowest paid county employees.

Many talked about the challenges they faced over the last year in doing their work during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

"It was a rough year for everybody," Nohe said. "On our side, everybody pulled together.

"We lost some time, but we are now caught up. Everyone joined in and did a fantastic job this year."

With people working from home and other efforts they got more done this past year than they usually did, he said of his 18 employees.

Lefebure is looking into the possibility of hiring an investigator for his office to help with cases. The person would most likely be a retired law-enforcement officer.

"We would use them to fill in any gaps of certain investigations," Lefebure said.

He also requested a 5 percent increase in pay for his secretarial and assistant prosecutor line items.

"That is based on the workload and the value these people are bringing to Wood County," Lefebure said.

Over the past few years, they have seen an increase in drug cases which has also lead to more theft, abuse/neglect and other crimes, he said.

Ridgway was looking at continuing efforts to get records scanned and to clear out old records from the old sheriff's department building as well as keeping up with daily scanning.

Jury trials will also be picking up again. She is asking for increases in the salary line items for her deputy clerks.

Woodyard asked for additional money for dispatchers' salaries. They have a number of part-time dispatchers who are able to fill in when needed.

They were able to cut expenses in some line items, including training sessions where they will be doing more virtual training as opposed to sending people somewhere, he said.

Officials talked about the need for a new 911 Center. Last year, officials looked at the old Suddenlink building and the Worthington Elementary School building. Officials discussed possibly building a new facility on the footprint of the old county jail near the courthouse. Such a facility could also be used to hold records the county has to maintain.

The commission expects to have the budget finalized around March 22-25,

Brett Dunlap can be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com

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