The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office will be able to fill at least 40 additional detention officer positions a year without using costly overtime pay under a staffing strategy unanimously approved by the Commissioners Court Monday.
The detention officer overfill strategy will allow the Sheriff’s Office to use salary savings from department vacancies to temporarily pay for unfunded detention officers at the county’s two jails.
Overtime for jail operations has increased since Sheriff Oscar Ugarte took office in January 2025 despite a drop in the number of inmates, raising questions about the spending. Detention officials attribute the need for overtime to staffing shortages.
Recurring staffing gaps occur when detention officers are selected to attend peace officer academies. During their six-month training, cadets remain classified as detention officers although they do not work at the jails during that time. And because they also do not transition from the detention to law enforcement budget until they complete the academy, those positions are not technically vacant and cannot be filled.
About 40 detention officers a year transition into deputy positions as part of an internal career pipeline, said Verenice Acosta, senior deputy Human Resources officer. The Sheriff’s Office holds up to eight eight-week detention officer academies per year and two six-month long peace officer academies per year.
“For six months, if I have 20 peace officer trainees in the academy. I have 20 on paper … when in fact they’re not really there, they’re actually in the peace officer academy. This will help eliminate that,” Patrick Gailey, chief deputy of the county’s detention bureau, said.
Overtime spending at the county’s two jails has nearly doubled to an average $30,000 a day through April of the current fiscal year over the 2024 fiscal year, an El Paso Matters analysis of Sheriff’s Office overtime spending shows. The jail population has also decreased 10% during that same timeframe. The Sheriff’s Office hasn’t directly addressed the lower inmate population and what impact that has had on staffing.
The Sheriff’s Office has slightly reduced the overtime spending since May 1.
READ MORE: El Paso County commissioners review Sheriff’s Office overtime spending for jails
“I think it’s important that when we’re having a conversation about budgets and jail staffing and making sure that the sheriff’s office has the resources that they need, understanding that operating the jail is the most critical function of county government, that we understand what’s driving this need for more staffing,” County Commissioner Jackie Butler said during the meeting.
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Officers Association supports the change.
“I’ve been here 23 years (and) we’ve been short (staffed) since then. We’ve been drafted (for overtime) since a long time ago. They tried from temporary jailers, they tried from drafting once or twice a week, so this has been an ongoing issue for a good, good while,” Omar Gonzalez, union president, told El Paso Matters.
The county is also looking for other ways to help reduce overtime spending at the jails, El Paso County Administrator Betsy Keller said during the meeting.
The Sheriff’s Office will also give quarterly reports to the Commissioners Court on the progress of the change and overtime usage.
The post New county jail staffing plan could fill 40 positions a year, reduce overtime appeared first on El Paso Matters.
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