SHERIFF ANGRY AT CUTS TO HIS DEPARTMENT IN '04 BUDGET PROPOSAL

Sheriff John P. Burns is upset with the cuts made to his department as
part of the proposed 2004 Jefferson County budget.

He asked for two more deputies - one for road patrol and one detective
- - but instead lost a deputy position, which had been vacated a few
weeks ago by a new hire who decided she didn't want to be a deputy.

" I'm not happy," the first term sheriff said. " In 1983, we had 18
road patrol deputies and we were just getting back up to that. When we
get to 18 we can start talking about 12-hour shifts to cut over time."

Mr. Burns said that if the position in not reinstated, He'll have to
pull a deputy from the county's specialized programs such as the
Metro-Jeff Drug Task Force or the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program.

"If you don't have basic law enforcement, who's going to come here and
where's the quality of life going to go?" the sheriff said. "Around
here I think DARE is a help. I know nationally they say it's not, but
around here I think it has a positive effect."