Kootenai County Sheriff's Office on track to exceed $925,000 overtime budget

The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office is on track to exhaust its FY2026 overtime appropriation within weeks, creating pressure on county finances and daily jail operations. KCSO reported that as of Jan. 29 it had spent about $752,839 of a $925,000 overtime budget and is projected to exceed that total in late February, roughly seven months before the fiscal year ends.

The overtime overrun is being driven mainly by detention deputies covering shifts at the county jail, where Sheriff Bob Norris says the facility “remains consistently over capacity.” Norris added, “We’ve had no escapes.” He also said, “We’ve had no deaths. We did have six overdoses in the month of December.” Captain Jeremy Hyle described staffing pressures and recent hires, noting that “We’re trying to retain the people that we have while we train and hire others.” Hyle told commissioners 13 new detention deputies have been hired, but eight remain in training and the agency “remains down 16 deputies.”

County leaders pressed the sheriff’s office for explanations and accounting choices. Commissioner Bruce Mattare asked bluntly, “What is the point of having these budgets and trying to balance them and then having them just blow right past them?” and “Where is the money supposed to come from? Fund balance?” He urged a different budgeting approach, saying, “We need to start budgeting correctly for the hours that you need to have filled, irrespective of your staffing levels,” and suggested vacant positions should be accounted for in overtime or personnel lines with a 50% increase to reflect real overtime needs.

County finance officials say KCSO previously sought a larger overtime appropriation. Finance Director Brandi Falcon said the office requested a $1.2 million overtime budget for fiscal year 2025 but the board denied that increase; KCSO did not request an overtime increase for FY2026. At the same time, county budget planners have asked departments to find cost savings for 2026, setting a $1.7 million savings target for the sheriff’s office because it represents a large share of county spending. Commissioners have proposed a 3% general-fund cut across departments and asked KCSO to consider leaving vacant positions open and increasing revenue from jail bed rates as part of its savings proposals.

Some county budget documents and external analyses show larger overtime expenditure pictures that may not be directly comparable to the $925,000 line item. Those figures suggest overtime can run much higher when measured department-wide or across different fiscal definitions, underscoring the need for clarity about which accounts are driving the shortfall.

Municipal police agencies elsewhere have faced similar choices, trimming nonessential overtime and other expenditures to avoid deeper budget gaps. Local leaders in Kootenai County now face those same trade-offs: maintain staffing and coverage at current levels through overtime, or tighten spending and risk reduced flexibility. For residents, the immediate implications are practical, continued strain on detention staff and the potential for budget adjustments that could affect services or require use of contingency funds. County budget hearings and sheriff’s office staffing updates in the coming weeks will determine whether the office can rein in overtime or whether commissioners must reallocate funds to sustain jail operations.