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Editor’s note: This is the third and final column in the current series Dr. Lee Banton is writing for the Farmville Herald about the Cumberland Sheriff’s Office and their needs. 

Citizens should be interested in learning that the total of Cumberland County’s current outstanding tax-supported debt has a principal of $17.9 million. (A) The average annual debt service approximates $3.0 million. (B) Payments of $3.0 million per year means that the county’s debt would be retired in FY 2031, or 6 years from now. 

Because Cumberland County does not have a substantial tax revenue engine in the form of numerous industries located in the county, local individual families are carrying the pay-back pressure.

Under federal law, localities cannot file for bankruptcy. The United States Bankruptcy Code does not provide for the bankruptcy of a municipality or local government entity. However, the financial difficulties of a Virginia locality can potentially involve state intervention or assistance,  audits, financial oversight, and state-appointed receiverships.

For years, the Cumberland Board of Supervisors have attempted to keep the county a quiet, family farm-oriented county, in addition to promoting Cumberland as an excellent choice for retirement. In the late 1980s, a group of Cumberland County families organized what they called “Save Our Cumberland County” with the acronym of SOCCO. That large group of local families was effective in controlling the election of the county board of supervisors, and other elected county officials. The seeking of industries of all kinds was a no-no if you wanted to be elected to any county position.

And so, here we are. No industries, but plenty of needs, both at the sheriff’s office and across the board. From my perspective as a past president of the Piedmont Planning District Commission and a 44-year resident of Cumberland County, I’m curious what the solution is. You need money now, but any major industry is years away from coming in, if at all. You need the infrastructure and workforce to attract them. Right now, does Cumberland have either? 

Cumberland needs don’t go away 

And yet, the needs don’t go away. The Sheriff’s Office still needs extra funding, in order to not just keep current employees but hire replacements for those who retire or leave for better positions. A request for body cameras means a new, state mandated position, so that has to be funded. They need funding to pay for repairs and renovations to current vehicles. In a perfect world, they’d also get a couple new vehicles. 

It’s also worth noting that citizen safety and the job of the sheriff’s office, goes hand in hand with something that may be even more controversial than my suggestion for additional department funding. To do their jobs effectively, the deputies and other employees, as well as all others who work inside, would benefit from a courthouse renovation.
Let me be clear, I’m not speaking of the $37 million debt bomb that’s been proposed. In fact, I’m hear to point out several recent renovations have been done for less than that. In some cases, significantly less than that. 

Still, security at the entrance of any courthouse is crucial for controlling who and what is allowed inside, and additional security is crucial for maintaining the safety for everyone in the courthouse.

We live in a time when threats against judges,  attorneys, and acts of violence in courtrooms are taking place with greater frequency than ever before. Courtroom operations produce a heightened degree of risk as our nation as seen recently on television news because of anger outbursts,  death threats, attempted escapes from custody, and disruptions to delay court proceedings. It seems that courthouses are targets of terrorists (domestic and foreign). But again, as I mentioned earlier, it can and has been done for less. Several courthouses within a 50-mile radius of Cumberland underwent required security updating “without” having to build an entirely new courthouse.