DUNCAN — Stephens County Sheriff Wayne McKinney and the Board of Stephens County Commissioners are butting heads over money in a budget feud that shows little sign of subsiding in the near future.

Commissioner Chairman Todd Churchman, a Democrat seeking re-election to his District 2 post this November, said the board’s decision to cut McKinney’s general fund budget by about $205,000 – or roughly 37 percent – was a common-sense budget decision that had nothing to do with politics.

McKinney, a Republican seeking re-election, said Saturday that he believes the move was political, although he did not want to elaborate specifically on that contention.

But he said his office was singled out for cuts to its general fund appropriations and was being penalized for running an efficient agency that is aggressively fighting  crime.

Commissioners and the Excise Equalization Board approved the county budget during a special meeting on Aug. 24, approving the funding requests for all departments that were submitted except for the sheriff’s department.

The 2012-13 general fund budget topped $7 million and included a 5-percent pay raise for almost all non-elected county employees, the first salary increase in four years. The only department not getting a raise is the Stephens County Election Board because of a decision by the State Election Board.

But the budget for the sheriff’s department was set at $350,000 – about $205,000 less than it was last year. McKinney had requested a general fund budget of $784,000, an increase over last year that would allow him to hire three additional field deputies and provide 5-percent pay raises.

Churchman contends that unlike most county offices, the sheriff’s department is able to generate some of its own money, primarily  through two accounts – sheriff’s fees and sheriff’s housing. The money comes in from serving warrants and housing inmates for the state, city and other entities at the Stephens County Jail.

The county receives about $1.7 million a year in sales tax money each year that can only be spent on maintenance and operation of the jail, Churchman said.

But he said the amount of money in the two primary cash accounts – money generated by the sheriff’s department – has grown from roughly $1 million when McKinney took office in 2009 to about $2 million now.

That’s growth of about $250,000 a year, Churchman said – more than enough to offset a $205,000 cut in the general fund money.

He said the department gets about $30 per day per each inmate housed in the jail, so if the jail held only 100 inmates per day, that would raise more than $1 million a year – money the sheriff can spend at his discretion, Churchman said.

“The more people  he keeps in jail the more money he makes, that’s the long and short of it,” Churchman said.

Churchman said during McKinney’s tenure since 2009, the department has gone from 44 to 65 employees and from 18 to 32 vehicles.

“His big gripe is we cut him and he is underfunded,” Churchman said. “The reality of it is … you can’t spend like that and sock $250,000 a year back and be underfunded.”

He said the county – out of its general fund – cannot afford the “exponential growth” of any single office and be fiscally sound.

“Our main concern is to preserve the economic health of this county as a whole and we cannot do it by giving everybody what they want to grow as big and flashy as they want,” Churchman said.

If McKinney wants three additional deputies, Churchman said, “He is going to have to redirect his funding streams to pay for those out of his own” accounts.

McKinney said the department received a small general fund increase in his first year in office but has since seen its budget cut. It was cut 2.5 percent last year, he said, and now is getting cut more than 35 percent.

He said when he took office, the average number of jail inmates was between 80 and 95. Now it ranges from 135 to 155, with the maximum being 160. There were 147 people being jailed Saturday.

“That is us doing our job,” McKinney said. “That is law enforcement doing its job and putting the drug dealers, putting the thieves and the murderers,” in jail.

McKinney acknowledged that money in the two primary cash accounts has grown under his watch, but said with the exception of some jail employees, the increase in workers and vehicles has been paid for outside of the general fund.

He said he is paying eight full- or part-time employees out of the cash accounts now. And doing so outside of the general fund means he not only pays the salaries, but also the benefits – an extra 32 percent on top of base pay.

“That is about half-a-million dollars right there that the county commissioners are not supplying any money for,” McKinney said.

McKinney said he has been able to grow the cash accounts in large part through efficiencies that save taxpayer dollars. For example, he said inmates who want any extra clothing or such items as aspirins or antacids are charged for them, unless they are indigent and nurses or physicians deem them necessary.

The sheriff said unlike general fund money, the cash in outside accounts is not guaranteed to be there tomorrow or six months or a year down the road. And the money he spends on vehicles and extra equipment such as bullet-proof vests and vehicles is coming from his own accounts.

He said courthouse security needs to be increased, and as it is, many of his deputies pull extra-duty in exchange for  comp-time that keeps adding up. And it’s a 24-7 operation, 365 days a year, he said.

“We are taking a very aggressive and pro-active approach to fighting crime and clearing up crime in the county,” McKinney said. “In order to do your job, you have to have a little help.”

McKinney said he was given no forewarning or even a courtesy call before the budget was approved.