Dec. 5—Despite a shortage of employees across many of its divisions, the Buchanan County sheriff said his office is committed to maintaining its services.

Sheriff Bill Puett said his department is down five people in patrol, four in jail administration and one each in investigations and on the drug strike force. The shortages, he said, have come due to different factors.

"COVID impacted us. People were leaving service at alarming rates nationally because now folks can go out and make more money with them being not on call, not subjected to harm that their families are ridiculed or whatever as they see in other places throughout the country," Puett said.

Puett said although residents of Buchanan County support law enforcement, things people see in other parts of the country can get projected locally.

Capt. Michael Hess oversees the sheriff's road patrol division, which is responsible for answering daily calls for service including crashes, reports of property crimes, traffic enforcement and more. The patrol runs three shifts every day. He said the staff shortages have not broken morale.

"Everyone is willing to work overtime or help cover shifts when needed, and we try to accommodate them and work with their schedule as well," he said.

Hess also said that his patrol has every shift covered.

"We never leave an aspect of the shift not covered," Hess said.

Although there are struggles with the number of employees, Puett said there are strategies in place the fill openings and new recruits are on the way.

"We're actively recruiting all the time and we're reaching out on a variety of platforms," Puett said. "We are reaching out to teenagers as they develop and look for career paths and providing some help mentorship for them. We help people pay for their academy, trying to alleviate some of those financial burdens off of the applicant and their families to get them set up for a good, strong career path."

Both Puett and Hess said they appreciate the support of citizens and want to assure people that although areas within the sheriff's office are short-staffed, their service remains strong.

"We stand firm on our services and we're not going to cut services. We're going to do whatever it takes to ensure that our staffing is filled and we serve our community at the highest level that we pledged to do," Puett said. "It's an important thing for us, and we take that very seriously."

Hess said people can expect help when they call for it.

"We'll continue to respond to calls for service and address any emergency needs in a timely fashion," he said. "There's been no cuts or even talk of any cuts to deal."

Puett said anyone interested in joining the Buchanan County Sheriff's Office should contact the department about available jobs.

"We like to make it known that we're hiring ... we're looking for good people to step up to make sure that we continue to serve our community and make it a better and safer place," Puett said. "We would love to sit down and see if they're interested in becoming a member to serve and protect this community."

Riley Funk can be reached at riley.funk@newspressnow.com.