Despite recent layoffs in Harris County, Montgomery County Pct. 2 Commissioner Craig Doyal said Montgomery County will not face any layoffs within law enforcement.

“I don’t see us eliminating any current jobs,” Doyal said.

According to Pct. 5 Constable David Hill, the county has been very conservative with budgeting in years past.

“We are not in the hole, so we don’t need to make any drastic cuts,” Hill said.

“The general attitude of the county was to keep the budget as tight as possible,” Doyal added.

According to Doyal, each year law enforcement departments have been asked to make more positions available, but have not granted them in an effort to be conservative.

Similar to the Harris County Constable’s Office, the Montgomery County Constable’s Office, consisting of six precincts, receives deputy and secretarial staff budget from the county. The Constable’s Office also receives funding through security contracts in schools and neighborhoods. Doyal said the contracts are on an individual basis.

Harris County Pct. 4 Constable’s Office released a press release in March stating that they had to cut back approximately $7 million due to a budget crisis. The department laid off about 100 employees and cancelled several school and neighborhood contracts.

In a recent audit, Montgomery County appeared to doing well overall, according to Doyal. Each law enforcement department works with a different budget, so Doyal was unsure of the specific budget for each of the Constable’s Offices.

Doyal’s consensus was that Montgomery County was in “good shape” after years of planning and preparation.

“We have been lean and mean for a while,” he said of the county’s budget.

Doyal also noted that staffing levels are different between Harris County and Montgomery County. There are “far less” law enforcement officers in Montgomery County, he said.

Doyal said the county has made cuts in years past and has been able to keep costs down, eliminating the chance for layoffs.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed