Dutchess Sheriff: Hiring freeze will leave police positions open

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Sheriff: Hiring freeze will leave police positions open

Dutchess County Sheriff Butch Anderson said the recently announced county hiring freeze isn't a surprise, but it will mean fewer police.

Dutchess County Executive William Steinhaus’s hiring freeze prevents filling three vacancies, hiring two additional deputies and hiring two part-time communications staffers, said today. Two superior officers will retire soon, and they can’t be replaced either.

Anderson said he knew Steinhaus would issue a hiring freeze.

“It’s no big surprise,” Anderson said. “We're just going to have to wait until he's happy and satisfied with the budget.”

Steinhaus issued an executive order last week calling for a hiring freeze of all current and future vacant positions in county government because of the projected $4.3 billion shortfall in the state budget.

The county relies on $68 million, or 17 percent, of state money to balance its budget.

The executive order is in effect, pending clarification of the impact of the state budget gap on the county.

In an e-mail, county budget Director Valerie Sommerville referred to the executive order, noting that hiring is frozen for all “units” of county government. A “unit” is “any department, division, or functionally identifiable part of county government,” according to the county charter.

For more on this story, read Friday's Journal or check back here Friday morning.

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Unfortunate, to say the least, as DCSO has a pretty large patrol area. We aren't even talking about expanding the force, just maintaing it's current state. Hopefully the state clarifies its position and things get resolved.