DECATUR, Tenn. — Nearly every year Meigs County Sheriff Walter Hickman asks for additional funds for his department. But early every year his requested amount gets drastically cut by the County Commission.

County Mayor Ken Jones, who is chairman of the commission, said something needs to be done.

Mr. Jones said Sheriff Hickman generally makes do with what commissioners give him, but he said the department is using equipment that is long overdue for replacement.

“It’s not a secret that the county is not adequately funding the sheriff’s department,” Mr. Jones said. “Deputies are driving cars I wouldn’t go to the post office in.”

He said the department has 15 patrol cars and more than half have more than 150,000 miles on their odometers. Some have 175,000 to 200,000 miles, he said.

Deputies need a raise, too, he said.

“If you take a survey of deputies’ salaries in nearby counties, you would find Meigs is much lower,” Mr. Jones said.

Sheriff Hickman said department officials will probably ask again for extra money when they begin developing the budget for the new year.

He said the county is going to pay for one detective’s salary out of the drug fund, and he hopes the 911 system will help fund an additional dispatcher.

“Our jailers are having to help with the 911 dispatch system,” Sheriff Hickman said. That’s a burden because there often is only one jailer on duty who has to monitor 45 inmates, he said.

Sheriff Hickman also is hoping the county school system will help pay for half of the resource officers’ salary, and that the commission will agree to buy patrol cars with impact money coming from TVA.

The Tennessee Valley Authority is giving money to local governments which will be affected by the influx of workers who are building the Unit 2 reactor at the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant.