WALLACE – Shoshone County Sheriff Holly Lindsey and Undersheriff Lance Stutzke went before the county commissioners on Wednesday to discuss what they’re calling a “dire” concern.  

Staffing levels in the jail area of the Shoshone County Public Safety Building have reached all-time lows, putting the jail staff and county at risk.  

A detention facility the size of Shoshone County’s is meant to have a staff of 12, including the jail captain. Currently, the number sits at just four.  

Stutzke explained how the attrition rate for a detention deputy sits between 1-2 years, which means deputies are being hired, trained, and are leaving the job in 24 months.  

Commissioner Jeff Zimmerman was curious about the high level of turnover and asked what reasons the SCSO was being given during exit interviews.  

The reported answers tend to follow along the lines of too much responsibility or too much stress for the amount of money they’re being paid.  

“If you have a sense of duty and you want to serve your community and you go to work for detention, you walk back there, and you’re surrounded by very negative, very depressed people,” Lindsey said. “It’s just not the healthiest place to work.”  

Lindsey and Stutzke understand that most people wouldn’t step into a position like a detention deputy expecting it to be entirely pleasant, but low staffing, and overcrowding in the jail, on top of the added stress and responsibility of the position make it more challenging for people.  

Stutzke reported that in 2023, the SCSO lost six detention deputies in four months, recruited six new deputies and as of Wednesday, only one of them remains. In 2024, three more quit, and in 12 months, they were only able to recruit two people for the positions.  

Other challenges come into play when it comes to hiring new deputies too. Applicants without prior law enforcement experience must complete POST training, including the physical fitness test.  

“They have to meet the same standards as a patrol deputy,” Stutzke said. “And a lot of applicants don’t meet those standards.”  

To combat these issues, Lindsey and Stutzke proposed a plan to the commissioners that would allow the SCSO to utilize their patrol deputies in the jail on a voluntary basis.  

Currently, the SCSO’s patrol division is fully staffed, so Lindsey’s idea would be that deputies could sign up for additional hours working alongside the SCSO’s jail-certified staff and be compensated at their patrol rate, instead of working additional hours at a lower hourly wage.

To do this, the commissioners plan to approve shifting unspent funds from the SCSO’s jail budget and moving them to patrol. 

“The jail just needs help right now,” Stutzke said.  

The plan is to see how this works for a month and then revisit the issue with the commissioners to review how the plan is working, if they have had any success recruiting new jail staff, and how much money was spent during that time.  

Zmmerman was pleased that Lindsey and Stutzke came to him with a solution rather than just an issue and commended them for their efforts.  

“I’m sorry that you’re going through what you’re going through,” Zimmerman said. “I’m really happy that guys have come up with a plan.”  

Shoshone County Jail is designed to hold 48 inmates at a time but has regularly been housing more. This causes numerous safety concerns and sets the county up for potential liabilities if the people staying at the jail aren’t properly supervised.  

“This is not just an us issue,” Lindsey said. “It’s a national issue.”