Sheriff’s Office Seeks Additional Jailer and Administrative Assistant, Citing State Inspection Failures

Montgomery County Board Committee | May 4 Meeting

Article Summary: A Montgomery County Board committee on Monday, May 4, 2026, recommended adding the equivalent of 1.5 correctional officers and one administrative assistant at the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, advancing a request driven by state jail inspection failures and a growing backlog of public records work. The recommendation now moves to the Finance & Budget Committee.

Sheriff’s Office Staffing Key Points:

• Sheriff Tyson Holshouser cited state inspection failures for staffing only one jailer on the midnight shift.
• Request includes one new full-time jailer, conversion of a part-time jailer to full-time, and one administrative assistant.
• The administrative assistant request was tied to the volume of Freedom of Information Act requests and the need for secretarial back-up.
• The Development & Personnel Committee deferred the question of whether the positions can be funded in FY2026 or FY2027 to the Finance & Budget Committee.

HILLSBORO — The Montgomery County Board Development & Personnel Committee on Monday, May 4, 2026, voted unanimously to recommend adding one-and-a-half correctional officer positions and one administrative assistant at the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, pending Finance & Budget Committee approval.

The recommendation came after Sheriff Tyson Holshouser told the committee his agency has failed state jail inspections because only one jailer is on duty during the midnight shift. To address the gap, Holshouser asked the committee to authorize a new full-time jailer and to move an existing part-time jailer to full-time status — the combination accounting for the “one-and-a-half” correctional officers in the motion.

Inspection Failures Drive Jailer Request

State inspection standards typically require redundancy in jail staffing to address emergencies, inmate movements and supervision of incarcerated people. Single-jailer shifts have become a recurring compliance issue for small Illinois county jails, and Montgomery County’s repeated failures on that point formed the core of Holshouser’s argument to the committee.

The minutes do not record specific inspection findings or dates, but Holshouser framed the staffing addition as a corrective measure rather than an expansion of services.

Administrative Assistant Tied to FOIA Workload

The sheriff also asked for an administrative assistant, citing the volume of Freedom of Information Act requests his office processes and the need for secretarial back-up when current staff are unavailable. FOIA requests at small-county sheriff’s offices commonly include records relating to arrests, jail bookings, traffic incidents and use-of-force reports, and timely response is required by Illinois law.

Funding Path Still Open

Committee members discussed whether the county’s 708 mental health board or the 911 emergency telephone system board might help offset some of the costs — an approach that has been used in other Illinois counties to underwrite sheriff’s office positions with overlapping mission responsibilities. The committee did not reach a conclusion on outside funding and deferred the FY2026/FY2027 timing question to the Finance & Budget Committee.

The motion to recommend approval was made by committee member Russ Beason and seconded by Jeremy Jones. The committee passed it unanimously, with member Chris Daniels also voting in favor. Committee Chairman Doug Donaldson was absent from the meeting; Chad Ruppert chaired in his place.

Background

The recommendation arrives as Montgomery County is also weighing the FY2027 budget effects of significant health insurance increases — Tony Johnston of Assured Partners Gallagher warned the committee earlier in the same meeting that the county should anticipate a renewal increase of 30 to 40 percent — and as Circuit Clerk Daniel Robbins indicated his own office will need at least one additional deputy clerk in FY2027 to comply with the Clean Slate Act. Sheriff Holshouser separately informed the Finance & Budget Committee three days later about transmission problems in his department vehicle, the repair for which was included in a Coal Fund 375 expenditure list approved May 7.

Final action on the sheriff’s staffing request will require approval by the full Montgomery County Board after Finance & Budget Committee review.