- Two Rich County sheriff's deputies resigned over pay and staffing issues on Tuesday.
- Deputy sheriff Brian Willmore cited inadequate pay and long hours as his reasons for quitting.
- County Commissioner Bill Cox said the county is considering alternatives such as a seasonal law enforcement force.
GARDEN CITY, Rich County — Roughly a week ahead of Garden City's busiest weekend of the year, two sheriff's deputies — effectively half of the Rich County Sheriff's Office force — quit over ongoing wage and staffing issues.
Brian Willmore said he and another deputy quit Wednesday after a conversation with the sheriff once again resulted in no action.
"I don't like the way that this has all played out," Willmore said Tuesday during an interview with KSL-TV. "I don't like leaving the community shorthanded, and I know with me quitting and my partner quitting, that's two less people to be there in case somebody needs something."
The Rich County Sheriff's Office was composed of four deputies, along with the elected sheriff.
Willmore said pay in nearby jurisdictions is as much as $10 to $15 more per hour, and the job over the past three years routinely meant long weeks and longer shifts.
"Several times this month I've been out for 16, 17 hours," Willmore said. "I got to the point where I had to rip the Band-Aid off, because otherwise I'd keep doing it and driving myself into a worse and worse mental state, and not doing what I need to for the community."
Rich County Commissioner Bill Cox said the deputies had asked for $10 more per hour and had called for the hiring of four additional deputies — a large ask for a county with a full-time population below 2,800.
"Just in property tax for our county is $1.2 million — and that's just the general property for the county," Cox explained. "In order to fund what they really wanted, we were close to $1 million between a raise and four more officers, and so it was literally almost double the property tax just to try to fund that request that they had."
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A Rich County commissioner would love to give deputies a $10 per hour raise to match what other agencies pay, as well as hire two more deputies. However, he said the budget just isn't there.Cox said the county gave deputies a $5 raise and was looking to see how the county could fund it this year and in the future.
"The money's got to come from somewhere, and so we're trying to balance that," Cox said. "We love our officers. We want to give them the very best equipment we can. We want them to be paid. We want them to be able to enjoy their jobs, but it's a difficult county when nine months out of the year it's pretty slow, and you've got not an awful lot going on. It's pretty quiet, and then for three months, it's crazy."
The county commissioner did believe the staffing issues would have to be addressed in time and that the county was considering alternatives, including a potential seasonal law enforcement force.
Cox acknowledged the deputies' choice to leave just ahead of Raspberry Days — where as many as 60,000 visitors were expected — put the county in a difficult spot.
"We had two officers who have said, 'Well, this is all about community and protection and keeping everything safe,' and then we have them walk off the job," Cox said. "This is the biggest week for Garden City."
Willmore lamented the timing of his departure.
"Honestly, I struggled with it because there is no good time to quit or good way to quit," Willmore said.
He said the time was now for the county to make changes, and he suggested the county consider redirecting funds from other sources, such as the transient room tax.
"There's a potential that taxes would have to be increased, but before that, I think that there's money out there that's not being utilized the way that it should," Willmore said.
