Sheriff Towns asks for more deputies

It’s life or death. That’s what Williams County Sheriff Steve Towns says about the department’s understaffing problem. He asked the County Commissioners last night at their meeting for additional road deputies. At their last meeting, commissioners asked Towns for documentation to prove his need for additional resources. Last night, Towns offered 50 pages of reports showing each deputy handling about 100 more calls than deputies just six years ago. One commissioner, a former county sheriff, said he doesn’t see the need, based on about the same number of calls last year than seven years ago. The Sheriff asked the commission to respond in writing within 30 days to their request to add three more deputies.