Attrition continues to plague Dougherty Sheriff’s Office

ALBANY — Despite running what Dougherty County Commission Chairman Chris Cohilas called “a remarkable” and “efficient” department and jail facility, Sheriff Kevin Sproul told the commission Monday there is one issue that has had a major impact on the operation of his department and the county’s jail.

“Attrition is a concern,” Sproul told the board during his annual report. “We lost 50 employees last year, and of those, 30 were resignations. In exit interviews, one of the main reasons given for employees leaving is low pay. Our attrition rate for 2014 was more than 20 percent of our employees, and at the end of the year we had 37 vacancies.

“We know from your retreat you’ve talked about giving our employees pay raises. We’d like to thank you for that. That will help.”

Sproul said his department answered 28,578 calls in 2014 and served 11,916 warrants, 25,778 civil papers and made 19,898 security checks. He told the board his investigators looked into 416 new cases and registered 266 new sex offenders, bringing the total managed to 350 per month.

“That’s an increase of about 20 offenders a month,” Sproul said. The sheriff said he would increase manpower in dealing with such offenders.

Sproul said the average daily population at the county jail for the year was 762 inmates, a drop from 863 in 2010. He said because of the lower inmate population, five of 15 housing units at the facility are currently closed, which should help decrease utility costs.

“Our population has decreased because our district attorney and our judges are working diligently to help cut the number of repeat offenders,” Sproul said.

Cohilas praised the sheriff and his department.

“A lot of folks don’t realize what a sheriff does,” the commission chairman said. “They think you get to strap on the gun and badge and play cops and robbers. But you and your staff do a remarkable job of running an efficient operation. I thank you for your work and encourage our citizens to come and tour our jail facility. It is a state-of-the-art operation.”

The commission approved a $759,679.43 turn-key bid by Field Turf USA Inc. to install artificial turf at Hugh Mills Stadium, funding provided in SPLOST VI allocations. Dougherty County Stadium Authority member and semi-retired countywide Athletics Director Johnny Seabrooks said after the meeting that he and others had fully vetted Field Turf and were aware of allegations made against the company.

“There was a case in Pennsylvania, I believe, where some concern was raised that dirt used at a stadium was carcinogenic,” Seabrooks said. “The company had no idea that the turf was contaminated, but as soon as students got ill, they removed the dirt and redid the project.

“I’ve been working on this project for six to eight years, and I’ve looked at every aspect of it. We’ve thoroughly looked at it. This is going to be good for our athletes and our community.”

Also at Monday’s meeting, the board voted to repurpose $80,848 in SPLOST V greenspace funding to develop a master plan that would connect greenspace trails in the community. District 1 Commissioner Lamar Hudgins asked if all of that money would be needed for the master plan, but County Administrator Richard Crowdis said an RFP (request for proposals) would be developed to determine the cost of the plan.

“I would think it would be closer to $40,000,” Crowdis said.