Sheriff hopes to save 24-hour patrol Jail staff, already ‘bare bones,’ could face cuts under proposal -By Tyler Francke BDN

Jail staff, already 'bare bones,' could face cuts under proposal Tyler Francke | Branson Tri-Lakes News Sheriff Jimmie Russell walks the hallways of Taney County Jail on Friday morning. Posted: Saturday, January 22, 2011 4:00 am | Updated: 5:05 pm, Fri Jan 21, 2011. By Tyler Francke | 0 comments     FORSYTH — Elected officials for Taney County continue to lament the effect proposed cuts could have on their office's ability to serve the public, as more information has become available following the posting of the proposed budget on the county website Tuesday.     Looking at percentages, the four offices that show the greatest differences between what was requested for 2011 and what commissioners have currently approved are those of the sheriff, prosecuting attorney, county clerk and public administrator.     Sheriff Jimmie Russell was initially informed by commissioners that he would need to cut $400,000 and 20 full-time personnel from the budgets of the sheriff's office and jail. Russell has said he is concerned the cuts could affect his office's ability to provide 24-hour coverage to the county or make it impossible to run the jail.     In an interview Friday, Russell said he has been working with commissioners to find areas in his budget to cut other than personnel.     "We're hopeful that we will be able to save enough money in other places that we won't have to stop 24-hour patrol," Russell said. "We will adjust things any way we have to to prevent that from happening."     Russell said the jail is still worrisome. He currently has 33 people hired for jail security, a number he described as "bare bones."     Any less could potentially open the jail up to lawsuits, Russell said.     "We are responsible for the safety of the people in the jail," Russell said. "If we don't have enough people to protect them from being harmed, that opens us up for liability."     Prosecuting Attorney Jeff Merrell's office is facing a proposed cut of more than $163,000 from his budget, most of it in personnel. Merrell said he has been asked to cut four full-time positions, including two of his four assistant prosecuting attorneys.     "It is stressful to think about," Merrell said of the cuts. "I think it's going to slow down the processing in our office quite a bit."     Merrell said he and his assistant prosecuting attorneys must review about 4,000 investigations annually to determine whether enough evidence has been gathered to file a case. He is afraid the cuts will negatively affect the rate at which they can process these investigations.     Merrell said that as far as the direct impact to the public, he is more concerned about the proposed cuts in Russell's office.     "I don't want people to call up 911 and be told there are no deputies available," Merrell said.     County Clerk Donna Neeley told the commissioners on Tuesday the cuts could sometimes put her office out of state compliance. She has been asked to cut two of her five staff.      Neeley said state statutes require two people in her office available for absentee voting and one person for recording minutes of county meetings. If she must be out of the office at a mandated training, and an employee calls in sick, her office would be out of compliance, Neeley said.     In a later interview, Neeley said that fewer staff will affect her ability to handle absentee voting in the April election and the speed at which they handle  public service requests.     Public Administrator Carol Davis' office is responsible for cases of county residents who are mentally disabled, elderly or minors who cannot take care of themselves. She has been asked to cut 20 percent of her budget, including a part-time worker, leaving only herself and one full-time employee to handle 160 cases.     She said her office is assigned cases by the court, so she cannot reduce the number of cases she handles, even if she loses staff.     "It's 20 more hours that must be divided between my full-time staff and myself," Davis said. "I will have to be here a lot more."     Despite the unpleasantness of budget cuts, Davis expressed a dedication to her work.     "These people are my family," Davis said of her cases. "And for many of them, I'm the only family they have."     Auditor Rick Findley said the proposed cuts, if approved, would give commissioners about $700,000 of deficit spending, instead of the estimated $2 million they were facing at the beginning of the budget process. Findley estimated the county's annual operating budget for the general revenue fund to be at about $13.2 million, including the proposed cuts.     The county's total appropriations, which includes carryover and expected revenue from all taxes, including the road and bridge and sewer funds, has been set at $73.4 million. Findley said a lot of this money has been appropriated into capital improvement projects, contingency funds and emergency funds, which the commissioners do not expect to spend.     Taney County resident Lucas Case, who has filed for the Branson Board of Aldermen Ward III seat, issued a statement in support of the budget cuts.     "I support the decisions made by the county commission to restructure the budget," Case said. "Unlike the federal government, we cannot print money and continue to bloat