Laid Off Genesee County Sheriff’s Deputies Called Back as Overtime Soars

Fourteen Genesee County Sheriff's deputies are being called back to work three months after being laid-off due to the rise in overtime costs.

According to Mlive, the county Board of Commissioners "tentatively agreed to the move" in a committee meeting on Wednesday. Talks had been ongoing for weeks about lowering overtime in the Sheriff's office and after a request for $250,000 for jail overtime for the month of January was made by Sheriff Robert Pickell.

The move was cheered by commissioners who had voted against this year's budget because of cuts in it to public safety.

Pickell has said he has no choice but to use overtime as the state of Michigan mandates a certain amount of staffing for the county jail. After the agreement, Pickell told Mlive he would do everything he possibly could to help keep future overtime costs down.