Winnebago County Board Chairman Frank Haney reached an agreement with Sheriff Gary Caruana to hire 10 additional corrections officers at the county jail.
The agreement comes as more than 60 complaints have been filed over allegedly excessive and prolonged prisoner lockdowns resulting from staff cuts Caruana made when his department budget was slashed by $4.3 million this fiscal year.
Haney says the agreement with Caruana is only part of a larger discussion that played out last week.
“What we were able to do is address the short-term tactical issue in the sheriff’s department and help the sheriff with that,” Haney said. “In turn, he’s recommitted and has an eye to the long-term solutions that we ultimately need.”
Such plans include the creation of a budget review committee and a countywide efficiency study. If this latest agreement is approved next week, it would cost the county $350,000.