PUTNAM COUNTY, TN (May 29, 2019): the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office is seeking funding from the county commission in the 2019-2020 budget to fill deficiencies due to the growth of the county and the continuing demand for more services.
As one of the few accredited sheriff’s offices within the state, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office is now widely regarded as one of the top law enforcement agencies in Tennessee. Much of this has been made possible through working relationships, partnerships with other agencies and organizations, retaining quality personnel and working with our county commissioners. Putnam County is the 18th largest county in the state. Over the last five years, PCSO is averaging approximately 30,289 calls and making 3,022 arrests per year. The majority of which have been nonviolent incidents. Putnam County’s population is projected to increase by 13 percent by 2020. This is on top of the nearly 20 percent increase experienced since 2000. It is anticipated that the need and demand for service will increase as the county’s population continues to grow beyond the nearly 78,000 citizens currently served. The sheriff’s office must keep up with the demand in order to deter violent crime from taking hold in this community. In reality, PCSO is serving almost 95,000 people due to the ‘daytime population’ or the number of people who are working in the area, vacationing here or choosing to retire here. The Putnam County area has been dubbed one of the fastest growing micropolitans according to the US Census Bureau for the past three years.
The budget reflects the growth of the county, the increasing demand for services and the unfunded federal and state legislative mandates that sheriff’s offices are responsible for. Examples of unfunded mandates are court security, warrant and civil process service and jail / inmate management. In the coming months, the sheriff’s office will be presenting a proposal for a new facility to account for the rising jail population. The Putnam County Jail is currently
“Earning the Public’s Trust Every Day!” housing an average daily population of 400 inmates in a 250-bed facility. Counties of similar size are housing between 400-600 inmates. The Putnam County Jail is 25 years old and is not designed to withstand a large inmate population for an extended period of time.
“We have enjoyed a good working relationship with the Putnam County Commission,” said Sheriff Farris. “I know they are committed to making sure that every citizen here in Putnam County feels safe in their home and in our community. I want to thank our commissioners for their continued support and patience as we work our way through this year’s budget process. We sincerely appreciate all that our county commissioners have done for the sheriff’s office and trust that they will view these requests as necessary for us to fulfill our lawful duties and responsibilities to continue to keep our community safe. Although we are sensitive to the growing demands on the overall budget for Putnam County, the aforementioned items must be addressed if the sheriff’s office is going to continue providing the level of service that Putnam County’s citizens expect and deserve.”
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Media contact:
Laura Hull, PIO
sheriffpio@putnamcountytn.gov