Sheriff Susan Pamerleau unveiled a plan Tuesdayto cut down on millions of dollars in overtime pay for employees inside the Bexar County Jail.
I want people on the job, doing their job, but also being able to balance their personal lives as well, said Pamerleau.
Under the new plan, the county will have overlapping detention-officer training courses, and they will also continue to recruit new candidates.
The sheriff plans to shift detention officers away from administrative jobs that can be handled by civilians.
Some of those civilian employees will still be required to carry a gun, but will not be sworn peace officers.
Its more expensive to recruit, and train, and experience a detention officer than for a civilian because they don't have the same requirements to do the job, Pamerleau added.
The sheriff targeted the jail as an area for improvement before she was elected in November.
Nine days after taking office, Pamerleau was informed the jail had already wiped out its overtime budget for the entire year.
Due to a lack of staffing, the county has had to pay out close to $100,000 in overtime some weeks.
In certain instances, jailers minutes away from finishing their shifts were told to stay for another eight-hour shift.
Officers couldn't pick up their kids. People were asleep going home. I mean it was just getting out of hand, said Joel Janssen, president of the Deputy Sheriff's Association of Bexar County.
The jail is currently 50 people below the 830 authorizedofficer positions.
According to the county's study, the jail is 76 percent full and would need 882 officers if it returns to capacity.
The plan calls for detention officers to hand over administrative jobs to civilians.
This would allow the officers to return their focus to the jail's 3,800 inmates.
