Sheriff's office to close Fridays

Staff report

The Roosevelt County Sheriff’s Office will be closing its office doors on Fridays for the next two months to conserve on electricity costs.

Sheriff Malin Parker said deputies will still be out on patrol on Fridays; the administrative office just won’t be open for business.

“We don’t know that it will make much of a difference, but we are hoping it will,” Parker said of shutting down all the utilities each Friday.

Parker said his office is about to reach the maximum it can spend on utility costs for the current fiscal year, and since returning $85,000 of his budget to the county for its $1.3 million deficit, he has nothing to make up for going over his utility budget.

Parker said he does not have an exact number for what the office will save, but something has to be done to try to curb his office going over budget.

He said his office will go back to its normal schedule as of July 1 and in the mean time, Monday through Thursday, the office will be open at 7 a.m. instead of 8 a.m. and will remain open during lunch hour.

The new schedule begins this week.