Sheriff Lytle Expands on Letter

Last week Phillips County Sheriff Jerry Lytle sent a letter to the Phillips County News and to social media that understandably caused some concern.

The PCN caught up with Sheriff Lytle to talk more about the letter, urging locals to contact the Phillips County Commissioners in regards to higher pay for his deputies and dispatch; this has been ongoing since he took office in 2019.

The situation has gotten more severe for PCSO because after the letter was released on Monday, August 19, Sheriff Lytle was informed that his department needed to cut $200,000 out of his proposed budget for 2025.

“That's going to limit the amount of money I can put into equipment and repairs and maintenance and fuel,” Sheriff Lytle said.

Despite their difference of opinion, Sheriff Lytle spoke pretty highly of the PC Commissioners.

“I've got the utmost respect for the commissioners. They have a tough job, but where we part ways is I guess the county's spending priorities,” Sheriff Lytle said. “The county departments that deal with life-and-death situations like fire, ambulance, and law enforcement should be the highest priority in spending.”

Sheriff Lytle understands that you can not always give the first responders what they want, but he feels they definitely need to be heard.

The department’s most pressing issue is filling out spots on the deputy roster, which has recently taken losses due to transfers to higher paying departments across the state.

PCSO is doing what they can to reach applicants, but the pool has been pretty shallow.

“Right now, I have had two applicants so far,” Sheriff Lytle said. “One failed the written tests, the other one has a restraining order against them; that pretty much makes you ineligible.”

Currently, PCSO is working solo shifts with only two deputies, and this team covers the third largest county in Montana, which has spread the department extremely thin.

“I tried to stress to them that the time is of the essence here, because the longer we wait, the longer it's gonna take to get somebody hired,” Sheriff Lytle said, noting that academy training takes three months.

He explained that even though the deputies can be on call, those hours are unpaid, and those deputies are not always available for on-call situations.

To make the job more appealing to potential deputies, Sheriff Lytle is hoping that the Commissioners will allow him to advertise the job at $24 an hour.

“That's what I'd like our base to be, which is still comparable to other agencies, but I think it's still palatable to the budget,” Sheriff Lytle said.

A starting pay at $24 an hour, would still be lower than many across the state including Blaine ($27.44) and Roosevelt ($29.08). According to Sheriff Lytle, some departments even have signing bonuses up to $4,000.

“Right now, that's almost more than I'm making, and I've got 20 years on,” he said. “It's tough, but I'm confident they're gonna do the right thing and make the right choice.”

Though many on the social media post pointed their blame to Washington, D.C. and the November election.

“The Judicial Branch is nonpartisan, and I kind of wish law enforcement was that way,” Sheriff Lytle said. “It doesn't matter whether you're conservative or liberal, the law applies to everybody equally. It doesn't matter what color you are, what creed you are, what religion you are. The law is the law. It shouldn't matter what political affiliation you are.

“As the sheriff, you gotta apply the law equally to everybody,” he continued.

Regardless of political bias, this action has to be made on the local front.

“I think it would be a good idea to reach out to the commissioners and express that they think law enforcement is a priority and if we're not, let him know that too,” Sheriff Lytle said. “You need to let your commissioners know, because they are your representative. Whoever your commissioner is, they represent you and your county government; especially if you're a taxpayer.”

Sheriff Lytle said that normally the budget is voted on in the fall after the Commissioners have a good idea of the property taxes that come in, which is another reason that he is pressing for support now.

To help support PCSO, please call the Phillips County Commissioners at 406-654-2429.