Kootenai County Commissioners Approve $1.4 Million Jail Overtime Budget Increase

Kootenai County's jail overtime budget was already three-quarters spent by Jan. 29, with two months left before the county's fiscal year hit its halfway point. Commissioners responded on March 5 by unanimously approving a $1.4 million supplement to the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office overtime account, a stopgap while the agency develops a more rigorous budgeting methodology for future years.

The original fiscal year 2026 jail overtime budget stood at $925,000. KCSO had burned through roughly $725,839 of that figure by Jan. 29 and was projected to exceed the full budget in late February, seven months before the Sept. 30 fiscal year-end.

Capt. Jeremy Hyle told commissioners that covering overtime costs through the end of the fiscal year would require an additional $1.5 million without benefits and related costs, or $1.9 million with those expenses included. The total overtime budget, as presented, would reach $2.5 million, covering 20,650 hours at an hourly rate of $76.97. That rate assumes a detention sergeant at the top of the pay scale, includes shift differential and time-and-a-half, though some deputies will earn less.

Finance Director Brandi Falcon offered blunt historical context. "Jail overtime has been over budget for many, many years, but salary savings have not been enough to cover that overage since FY22," she told the board. "Since I've been with the county, FY25 is the first year that the sheriff's office as a whole went over budget and the biggest driver was the jail."

The pattern partly traces to a budget decision that created its own complications. The county saved about $1.3 million in FY2026 personnel costs by halving funding for vacant positions open more than 100 days, including detention deputy slots. But each jail shift must be staffed with a minimum of 13 deputies, which means those vacancies get covered with overtime regardless of how the position is funded on paper.

"When we have 50% positions, the salary savings don't always make up the difference in overtime," Commissioner Leslie Duncan said.

Commissioner Bruce Mattare was direct about the structural flaw. "If we make these positions frozen or only half-funded, we're shooting ourselves in the foot," he said, adding that vacant positions need to be carried in either the overtime budget or the personnel budget at a 50% premium to reflect actual overtime usage. "We need to start budgeting correctly for the hours that you need to have filled, irrespective of your staffing levels."

The board denied a similar KCSO request to raise the overtime budget to $1.2 million for fiscal year 2025. KCSO did not request an increase going into FY2026, which sharpened the current shortfall.

The jail is currently over capacity by about 100 inmates, a figure that typically worsens during summer months. KCSO is also training 13 new deputies who joined in 2025, and Sheriff Bob Norris noted the jail has maintained safety despite the strain. "We've had no escapes," Norris said. "We've had no deaths. We did have six overdoses in the month of December."

The $1.4 million approval is intended as a bridge, not a fix. Commissioners instructed staff to return with a position-by-position overtime breakdown to inform FY2027 budget planning. "We should be able to figure this out," Mattare said.