Eaton County Sheriff flips on out-county patrols

CHARLOTTE, Mich. (WLNS) — Sheriff patrols in the out-county area of Eaton County will continue as normal, Eaton County Sheriff Department officials tell 6 News.

This change comes after a county spokesman confirmed Thursday night with 6 News that Sheriff Tom Reich had made the decision to end out-county patrol shifts between 12 p.m. and 12 a.m. effectively immediately.

Reich’s email explained the decision was made because the department had “exhausted” its overtime pay in the budget.

“Over the past two years, we have been operating with a short staff. To manage this, we have been filling vacancies, vacations, and sick time by using overtime,” Reich wrote in the email dated Wednesday. “Today, I was informed that the Sheriff’s Office must cut overtime due to budget constraints. Unfortunately, our overtime budget has been exhausted, though there will still be times when overtime must be authorized. Due to these cuts and our current staffing situation, we will no longer operate the out-county 12:00 PM to 12:00 AM shift.”

Out-county includes the county’s townships and smaller municipalities. It does not include Delta Township, which pays the county for sheriff patrols. Charlotte, Eaton Rapids, Grand Ledge and Potterville have their own police departments and would not be as impacted by the patrol cuts as smaller communities such as Vermontville.

6 News reported this plan just before 11:40 Friday morning.

In an interview with Reich on Friday morning, Reich said the shift change would go into effect in 30 days.

Following that interview, Undersheriff Jeffrey Cook called 6 News and informed the team the department had canceled the plans to end the 12 p.m. to 12 a.m. shift and that the department’s patrols would continue as normal.

Reich said the department is struggling to find and retain qualified deputies.

“We have issues with retention, recruitment, and pay,” Reich said. “So, pay not for myself but pay for my deputies that’s what I’m looking at.”

That staffing shortage has led to increased overtime costs.

“I had to fill in gaps where we were missing deputies for the road, so I would pay overtime,” Reich told 6 News Friday.

Reich said the potential of lay offs of deputies was never on the table.

“So, that was not an option at all. I didn’t even consider that. I don’t even want to consider that,” he said. “We have to have public safety in the county, that is a must.”

The move comes after Eaton County Commissioners received the county’s Financial Stability Work Group issued 2024 Financial Stability Report on May 10. The four Eaton Commissioners who sat on the committee issued a dramatic warning.

“The County has projected a $1.3 million shortfall in FY 2024/2025, which will compound to a $23.4 million shortfall within two fiscal years, despite cost-saving measures taken over the last several years,” the executive summary reports.

Eaton County’s current budget is $47,161,000. Public safety costs are “roughly 41%” of the budget says County Communications Director Logan Bailey. That amount includes not only the Sheriff’s Department, but other departments such as Animal Control and Zoning Enforcement, he says.

“I got to deal with this now, just because of the financing the county has right now,” Reich said.

Where Reich found additional budget dollars to continue operations as normal remains unclear.

Bailey tells 6 News, “The Sheriff can run his department as he sees fit, including moving money around in his budget to meet his needs.”

If the department requires more money from the county budget, Reich will have to ask the Commission.

“He has to work with the Board to see what he can do,” Bailey says.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WLNS 6 News.