During a Tuesday, April 21, meeting, the Clark County Council unanimously approved additional staffing for the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, advancing long-discussed efforts to bolster local law enforcement.
The council has approved additional staffing totaling 26 employees, including 21 deputies, one sergeant, a volunteer coordinator, a communications specialist and two support staff members, according to County Manager Kathleen Otto. One new deputy will support the local Homeless Assistance and Resources Team (HART) program. The full hiring process is anticipated to take place over three years.
“This is an important step toward addressing our longstanding staffing challenges,” Clark County Sheriff John Horch said in a news release. “I am confident we will continue to make progress and ultimately achieve the staffing levels needed to serve our community effectively.”
The positions will be paid for through a 0.1% sales tax increase that the council approved in August. The state Legislature authorized the funding mechanism during the 2025 legislative session, allowing cities and counties to collect funding specifically for law enforcement improvements. The tax will collect roughly $4.7 million this year, $14.75 million in 2027 and $15.37 million in 2028, according to the county’s staff report.
County staff will also apply for grants from the state’s Public Safety Funding Program, which would speed up the hiring process if funding is allocated. The sheriff’s office requested $3 million for the first round.
“If we do get some of that grant money, it’s a good thing,” Horch said to the council on Tuesday. “We can use those if we get approved for full-time employees until that runs out or (for) however much we get, so that’s a bonus factor that’s not up there, but we can’t count on it yet because we haven’t heard back on that yet.”
Horch also commented on the department’s recent staffing progress.
“As of two or three weeks ago … we were actually at zero vacancies,” he said, noting the situation lasted only two days, the standard for most departments. “That’s the first time I’ve seen that in 37 years.”
Horch thanked the council for approving the new positions and said the effort was the result of collaboration between the sheriff’s office, county manager, budget office, county council and community members, in a news release following Tuesday’s meeting.
Recruitment is anticipated to start in July.
“As these roles are filled, the increased staffing will help us manage workloads and improve public safety for our community,” Horch said in the news release.
