Grayson County Sheriff Norman Chaffins has released his office’s end of year activity report.
Describing 2017 as a “busy year,” Chaffins said with limited staff the sheriff’s office was able to attempt to serve 4,215 court papers, successfully serving 1,688 of those.
The sheriff’s office opened 126 criminal cases and made over 625 criminal arrests, with deputies making 67 DUI arrests and writing 1,060 citations for various traffic and criminal offenses. Additionally, the sheriff’s office responded to 6,336 calls for service and conducted over 500 extra patrol requests.
Chaffins said deputies worked 433 vehicle crashes and assisted more than 303 stranded motorists. In total, Chaffins said his office staff and deputies had over 18,000 citizen contacts in 2017.
Statement on drug crime in Grayson County
Sheriff Chaffins included the following statement regarding his offices posture pertaining to drug crimes in the county:
“We at the GCSO would like our citizens to know that illegal drug activity remains our # 1 law enforcement priority for 2018. We will continue to team up with the Greater Hardin County Narcotics Task Force to battle this ongoing problem. We recently assigned a deputy to serve on the Task Force and this deputy has already made multiple undercover buys from drug dealers in our county, as well as surrounding counties where those dealers filter their product to GC. As stated before, this office will continue to strive to be the best because we serve the best. The support we receive from our citizens in Grayson County is second to none. You should continue to expect a high level of service from your law enforcement officers in Grayson County. Continue to give us tips, continue to call in on your drug dealing friends and neighbors, and help your loved ones by getting them help and you WILL make a difference.”
$10,000,000 in taxes collected thus far
Chaffins noted that as of December 31, 2017, the sheriff’s office had collected over $10,000,000 in property taxes and are still collecting.
“This year, we were able to put property taxes online which reduced the amount of traffic around the Square and in the sheriff’s office and allowed our citizens the convenience of paying them from the privacy of their own home,” Chaffins said.
Chaffins explains sheriff’s office budgetary machinations
“Our projected budget for 2017 was approximately $1.3 million,” Chaffins said. “Our actual expenses for 2017 totaled about $1,075,000. We came in approximately $225,000 under our projected budget.”
Chaffins explains that “with the way the Sheriff’s budget is, it is difficult to purchase needed equipment until the last part of December when we have a better idea of how much money we will have coming in from tax collections. The Sheriff’s commissions collected in that year are used to purchase needed equipment and pay bills that are already line items in the budget.”
“Because any excess fees must be turned over to the Grayson County Fiscal Court on January 1, the GCSO must start January 1 with a zero balance,” Chaffins continued, “However, the Fiscal Court has the power to return excess fees to the sheriff’s office to use for items asked for in the previous year’s budget. The Sheriff essentially gets a personal loan from the state for over $290,000.00 to pay the first few months of the staff’s salaries and operating costs of the office. Then, the money from tax collections in the following year is used to pay off that loan.”
Chaffins said that this year, “approximately $30,000 of unused budget monies will be turned over to Fiscal Court, mainly due to property taxes arriving by mail after January 1 that were postmarked December, 2017. Any fees received in January of the New Year that were for the previous year taxes, by law, cannot be used to make purchases and must be turned over to Fiscal Court. The majority of our commissions are used to pay the salaries of the GCSO staff including the sheriff, all of the deputies and office staff personnel. The remaining expenses include, but are not limited to, office supplies, gasoline, law enforcement supplies and equipment, and vehicle maintenance.”
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com or 270-259-6000
