MEDFORD, Ore -- Due to Tuesday's layoff notifications, 66 jobs are on the line at the Jackson County Sheriff's Office. Late Wednesday afternoon, Sheriff Mike Winters spoke to the media for the first time since the proposed cuts were announced.
The Sheriff is blaming the layoffs on a budget crunch which he says is a result of a decrease in federal funding.
There was plenty of emotion at Wednesday's news conference but few firm answers to the media's questions. Especially when it came to specific budget inquiries. Over the last eight years the Sheriff says the county has lost $28 million in funding.
The 2012- 2013 budget came out out last summer but the cuts are hitting just months before that current budget ends.
Meetings are already underway try to save jobs, but the answers are just as unclear as they were before.
Sheriff Winters says the cuts are across the board from the patrol and civil divisions, to the marine department and search and rescue.
He says there could be a huge reduction in rural patrols, cut backs to the SWAT team and air rescue operations.
Winters says he's determined to balance the budget by July so no one will lose their jobs.
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