Agenda Package - 01-18-11 - Laserfiche WebLink

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G34 ® EE k..,®UNTY Committed Today for a Better Tomorrow LEE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ITEM ABSTRACT ITEM NO. IV. C. Information Meeting Date: January 18, 2011 XX Action Item Consent Agenda SUBJECT Transferring of Animal Control Enforcement Responsibilities DEPARTMENT Administration /Health /Sheriff CONTACT PERSON John Crumpton REQUEST Request approval from the Board of Commissioners to transfer Animal Control Enforcement responsibilities to the Sheriffs Department from the Health Department. SUMMARY The recent discussions by the Board of Health on the Animal ® Control Ordinance revisions revealed that there was a major problem with the enforcement of animal control laws in Lee County. The main issue with enforcement is that Animal Control Officers have very little authority to enforce state and local laws. A review of the Animal Control Law handbook from the North Carolina School of Government shows that the laws are better enforced by use of sworn law enforcement officers. Since the officers must be under the supervision of trained law enforcement professionals, these positions need to report to the Sheriff. Under this proposal, three (3) positions will be created in the Sheriff's Department for the enforcement of animal control laws. Three (3) positions will remain in the Health Department for the purpose of running the Animal Control Shelter. All vehicles, except for one, along with all enforcement expenses and property will be transferred to the Sheriff Department by July 1 st , 2011. The Sheriff will begin the transition to enforcement with the transfer of one position immediately. This will allow the department to begin preparations immediately to take over these responsibilities. The remaining two positions for enforcement will start on April 1, 2011, which will allow a 90 day training period for the new sheriff positions and a smooth transition. BUDGET IMPACT 2010 -2011 budget impact will be simply the transferring of the budget from the Health Department to the Sheriff's Department on the timeline we have addressed. The addition of the one new position will be covered by lapsed salary expenses in the 2010 -11 budget. The Department is currently budgeted for 5 positions, but only 4 are filled. The effect on the 2011 -2012 budget will be the increase of one position, plus the increase in salary for the positions to pay for sworn law enforcement officers — total increase in next year's budget would be $59,579.03. We will be asking the City of Sanford to cover half of this increase or $29,689.51 due to the fact that half our enforcement calls are generated within the city limits of Sanford. ® ATTACHMENT(S) NA