Brazos County Sheriff’s Office looks to end recruiting struggle
BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) -The Brazos County Sheriff’s Office says they’re facing recruiting challenges and staffing shortages.
Sheriff Wayne Dicky says their current employees have to make up for those vacancies, many working mandatory overtime.
“In our office at one point we had as many as 35 vacancies in the jail, so it made it really difficult to do everything we were required to do,” said Dicky. “We’ve got people working additional shifts and it makes it difficult to allow people to use vacation holidays and things like that.”
However, the Chief Deputy of Corrections, Kevin Stuart, came across an article with a possible solution.
“I actually saw a news article from Midland County that they used this company and were fully staffed,” said Stuart.
County Commissioners approved $20,000 for the Sheriff’s Office to invest in the company, Advanced Recruitment Solutions, and a contract was approved last week.
“The people that we have heard that have recommended the contract with and the results that I’ve heard from other counties have been good,” said County Commissioner Steve Aldrich.
Stuart said this company has worked with other counties that have seen good results.
“Going from an approach where we were looking for people who were looking for work is now this company is going to help us look for qualified people that may already be employed,” said Stuart.
“We consider this a great investment in the future and we are hoping to hire people that will make a career here. So it’s just like I said, it is money well spent, a good investment,” said Dicky.
By the end of this week, the sheriff’s office and Advanced Recruitment Solutions will have a plan for what the two-month process will look like.
After the recruitment process, the Sheriff’s Office is hoping to be fully staffed by the end of December.
