Marion County Sheriff seeks $11 million more in funding after staffing issues and future revenue cuts

The Marion County Sheriff’s Office is seeking an additional $11 million for its 2025 budget –– a more than an 8% increase from the previous year.

In 2024, the office was allotted $129,911,149 from the city budget and is asking to increase that to $141,392,282 next year.

The proposal was presented during a Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee meeting on Wednesday, as the office faces financial strain from staffing shortages and a recent federal ruling that city officials say will lower the office’s revenue by millions.

“We experience chronic and acute short staffing, which results in a workforce that is overworked and exhausted, which in turn means we experience a high level of turnover with our detention deputies,” the office’s Chief Financial Officer Kallan Carr said.

The sheriff's department is also under union negotiations that includes pay and will impact the 2025 budget.

The sheriff’s office is currently running a $6 million deficit for this fiscal year, according to Carr, largely due to overtime costs required to cover empty shifts and hiring bonuses for new recruits.

The office is also expecting revenue cuts when a recent federal ruling that would cap how much correctional facilities can charge for phone and video calls takes effect early 2025.

The ruling is intended to make communication more affordable for the families of incarcerated people. But Carr said it will reduce revenue for the sheriff’s office by an estimated $2 million starting next year.

That loss of revenue will directly affect funding for inmate programs, including re-entry services, wellness programs and education at the jail. It will also slash funding for programs that serve crime victims, according to Carr.

“These programs are a critical part of the operation of the adult detention center, and the funding loss would severely and adversely affect our daily operations,” she said.

She added that staff response times within the Marion County Adult Detention Center will be delayed and that more staff is needed to maintain jail safety.

“If we were fully staffed, we could respond to every incident immediately, but due to short staffing, staff must decide which incidents take priority,” Carr said.

Farrah Anderson is an Investigative Health Reporter at WFYI and Side Effects Public Media. Contact her at fanderson@wfyi.org. Follow her on X @farrahsoa.