LOGAN COUNTY (KFSM) --The Logan County Quorum Court voted Monday (August 10) to hire a new, full-time narcotic deputy.
Logan County Sheriff Boyd Hicks said the Quorum Court approved the position unanimously. There have been 95 people booked into the jail on drug-related charges so far this year, according to the sheriff.
"We just do not have the manpower to even respond or deal with a lot of the information we get and that is of course one reason we are seeking to get a full-time narcotics officer,” Hicks said.
Hicks said the position will pay about $35,000 a year and will be funded through local business owners while taxpayers will pay for the deputy's benefits package, which is estimated to be $12,000 to $14,000 a year.
Joseph Ramsey, a recovering meth addict being held at the Logan County Detention Center, said he supports the Quorum Court's decision.
"You start out snorting it then it gets to where you do not like that sensation anymore, so you go to smoking it and then after you smoked it long enough you do not get high anymore, so you go to shooting it," he said.
Ramsey is at the jail after he was caught stealing to fund his meth addition.
"I got aggravated robbery and breaking and entering," he said. "You need somebody that's going to keep [the drugs] away."
Hicks is hoping to have the deputy in place before January 1, 2016.