The Starke County Sheriff’s Office will be able to add a full-time deputy and social worker, thanks to grant funding obtained by Healthlinc.
“Obviously, we would have more coverage,” Sheriff’s Department Office Manager Pam McDonald told the county commissioners last week. “Our guys are running to 882 calls a month, so that would be able to help that load. And . . . vacation time alone, my vacation time, just the road guys, the eight guys, comes out to 1,344 hours that we need to cover.”
She said the grant would fund the positions until October of 2022, at which point they would have to reapply.
Starke County is still under a hiring freeze, but County Council President Dave Pearman said the council would be willing to consider new positions if they’re completely grant-funded. County officials stressed that if the funding goes away, so do the jobs.
