Durham County sheriff says his office is underfunded. Here’s what we know
In a charged email sent to Durham County residents in January, Sheriff Clarence Birkhead accused county leaders of failing to address problems at the jail, including broken fire alarms, that he said put detainees at risk.
But how accurate the sheriff was remains unclear. And county officials say the Sheriff’s Office doesn’t spend all the money it does get, despite repeated funding increases.
The 3-page letter, titled “A Message From Your Sheriff,” criticized two county commissioners — Nida Allam, who chairs the board of county commissioners, and Wendy Jacobs — who had voted against a training facility project.
“Unfortunately, I now find myself embroiled in a public debate with two county commissioners who have not been completely honest with the public as it relates to the Office of the Sheriff and my willingness to collaborate,” Birkhead wrote.
Two months after Birkhead’s letter, it’s not clear what impact, if any, it has had on relations between the county and his office, which public records obtained by The News & Observer and interviews with county commissioners indicate were already on shaky ground.
Here’s what we know.
Training facility controversy
The tension was apparent as far back as November, when The N&O first reported on community protests against a $16 million upgrade to the Sheriff’s Office training facility.
Reports showed the 40-year-old facility needed upgrades, including restrooms to replace a portable toilet. But frustrations with the Sheriff’s Office led Durham activists to call the facility “Cop City,” as activists in Atlanta had called a proposed police and firefighter training complex there. Several dozen people spoke against it at county meetings, citing concerns about militarization of law enforcement and using money that could be directed to other areas, like schools.
Ultimately, the local project was approved Jan. 13 in a 3-2 vote, with Commissioners Allam and Jacobs voting against the upgrades.
“I believe that our sheriff deputies deserve to be well-trained and in a facility that has decent working conditions,” Jacobs said, explaining her vote. “But at this moment in time, I cannot separate out this funding decision from other issues also linked to the safety and well-being of people in our community. I believe it is a false narrative to say that these issues are not linked.”
Allam said she and others had struggled to meet with Birkhead to discuss community safety issues, like expanding the HEART program, an alternative response program for people in crisis.
“I’ve sent follow-ups with a Doodle poll, options for meeting, and neither myself nor the [Community and Safety Task Force] members have received a response for scheduling a meeting,” she said. “I must see those words be put into action, and for that reason, I will not be voting to approve this facility and will continue to ask for accountability and transparency on the behalf of our residents.”
Four days later, Birkhead sent out his community message.
“It really doesn’t matter to me who you are,” he told The N&O in a February interview. “I’m not going to allow fake news to resonate in Durham County as it relates to the Durham County Sheriff’s Office.”
Operational issues
The real news, Birkhead says, is that the Sheriff’s Office is critically underfunded.
His letter cites these issues:
No functioning fire suppression system at the jail.
Problems with air conditioning and heating systems at the jail and courthouse.
Faulty cameras and doors at the jail.
An underfunded fuel, maintenance and repair budget for at least four years.
An inadequate uniform budget preventing new uniforms for officers, the replacement of uniforms and stab-proof vests at the jail.
Jacobs and Allam challenged those statements in separate interviews with The N&O.
“I believe just about everything that is on that list has actually already been addressed by our board,” Jacobs said. “To my knowledge, any time the office of the sheriff has made us aware of these types of critical needs, the [board] has approved the funding for them.”
A spokesperson for Durham County said April 4 that its General Services department informed Birkhead of the fire suppression problem last June. The county fire marshal put the jail on fire watch in July, and Birkhead notified county commissioners in August. Fire watch means deputies have to regularly patrol the jail for signs of fire, according to Birkhead.
In September, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services’ Division of Health Service Regulation found a number of deficiencies at the jail in one of its biannual inspections, records show.
As required by state law, Birkhead sent a letter to the division outlining his plans to fix the problems. “As noted in the inspection report, issues with the Durham County Detention Facility’s fire safety systems date to at least April 2024,” he wrote. “The facility has been under fire watch since July 2024.”
Jail officials met with the county’s General Services division in August, Birkhead said in the letter. The jail then self-reported the problems to the state.
“The system has had a mechanical failure and cannot be repaired as the components are no longer supported by the manufacturer,” Birkhead wrote. “The system must be redesigned and replaced.”
According to the county, the board of commissioners approved initial money to try to fix the system in October and then nearly $395,000 to replace the system last month. A bid is out to find a contractor to install a new system.
The current fire system is the original system installed in 1992, according to Birkhead’s letter. General Services estimated the work would be complete by the end of the 2024-25 fiscal year, which ends June 30, the letter said.
Birkhead’s staff had also been working with the county to repair a faulty water boiler, which helps heat the building, according to his letter.
“Current repairs to the HVAC system [are] addressing issues with the air conditioning,” he wrote. “General Services assured Sheriff’s Office staff that the heat should work during the fall and winter.”
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to a February request by The N&O for other recent inspection reports for the jail.
Millions approved for jail
The Sheriff’s Office’s overall budget is $50.6 million, $42.75 million of which is dedicated to personnel costs, the largest expense.
County documents show the budget has steadily increased in recent years, with this fiscal year’s budget sitting at $58.4 million in direct and indirect funding. The indirect funding comes from other departments that assist the Sheriff’s Office, like the General Services department, which helps maintain the jail.
County records show in the current fiscal year, the board has approved at least $1.3 million in additional expenses tied to maintenance and equipment at the jail. Last year, the board approved over $7.7 million in expenses in that area.
Birkhead also said he “adamantly” disagreed with Jacobs and Allam’s calling the Sheriff’s Office well-funded.
“I’ll dare say the $50 million budget for the Sheriff’s Office and whatever subsequent budget General Services has to care for [the jail] is not enough,” Birkhead told The N&O.
A memorandum prepared by Durham County’s Budget and Management Services on Jan. 4 shows the county’s position is different.
“Major funding increases have occurred in FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25 as needed and requested by the Sheriff’s department,” the memo states. “To date $5.07 million of available funding has been spent and $905k is encumbered. Currently $5.15 million is allocated and unspent.”
“The County understands the needs of a 24/7 operation like the Sheriff can have significant unplanned costs and is generally prepared to support those unplanned needs,” the memorandum says. “But the County also has an obligation to closely review unplanned spending and try to find solutions that minimize fiscal stress for the County in the short and long term.”
Underspending
In memos to county commissioners, county staff said the Sheriff’s Office has been underspending its budget by millions of dollars.
“Since FY 2021-2022, the Sheriff’s budget has underspent over a million dollars yearly,” one memo states.
That underspending isn’t unheard of when a department has as many vacancies as the Sheriff’s Office, which currently has about 25% unfilled positions. But the vacancies aren’t wholly responsible for that underspending, county budget staff said.
“[O]ther line items in the Sheriff’s annual budget are also underspent, including line items that were originally projected to be overspent and which received budget amendments to allocate additional funding,” a memo says.
Recent underspending figures include:
$0.46 million unspent in fiscal year 2019-20
$0.1 million unspent in fiscal year 2020-21
$3.22 million unspent in fiscal year 2021-22
$1.96 million unspent in fiscal year 2022-23
$1.84 million unspent in fiscal year 2023-24
“In other words, sufficient funding has been provided to meet the Sheriff’s needs each year, including budget amendments to address higher than anticipated cost, but budgeted funding remained unspent,” budget staff wrote.
Keith Lane, Durham County’s director of budget and management services, told The N&O that any unspent funds go into the county’s fund balance, which serves as its savings account.
The Sheriff’s Office has seen a $12.18 million increase in expenditure funding since fiscal year 2020-021, according to a county spokesperson. The county has also funded over $10 million in capital projects related to the jail “in recent years,” he said.
When asked by The N&O how much money he’d like to see in his budget, Birkhead couldn’t provide a specific number.
“It would be more than $50 million,” he said.
Coming to the table
So what’s next? That’s not clear. Birkhead told The N&O he hadn’t received any feedback from commissioners on the email, and Allam and Jacobs said they hadn’t engaged in further discussions with the sheriff.
“Ongoing discussions are currently happening between the Sheriff and County management about how to best move forward with comprehensive planning of ongoing Detention Center building needs,” a county spokesperson said.
NC Reality Check is an N&O series holding those in power accountable and shining a light on public issues that affect the Triangle or North Carolina. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email realitycheck@newsobserver.com
This story was originally published April 15, 2025 at 5:30 AM with the headline "Durham County sheriff says his office is underfunded. Here’s what we know."
