TONOPAH -- Nye County commissioners decided Tuesday not to look a gift horse in the mouth in requesting 12 new deputies which would be fully funded by the U.S. Department of Justice COPS Recovery Hiring Program.

But the county will be on the hook to employ those deputies after that, at an estimated cost of $1 million per year, if they are successful at getting the grant.

The original suggestion was to submit an application for 20 deputy positions under the program. Assistant County Sheriff Rick Marshall said there was no limit to how many positions they could request.

Commissioners decided they would hire 12 deputies to be stationed in the Pahrump area, nine of them on patrol duty, three in detention.

In a related matter, commissioners voted to buy five new patrol vehicles for the Nye County Sheriff's Office this fiscal year instead of a request for 17, and five next year through the state purchasing program.

Concerning the deputies, Marshall said he consulted with sheriff's department supervisors in each area of the county about how many deputies they need. They came up with a breakdown for the 20 officers that included two officers for Tonopah patrol, two in the Tonopah jail, one deputy in Beatty, nine to patrol Pahrump, three in the Pahrump jail and three officers assigned to other divisions.

The additional deputies, a major increase to the sheriff's department force of 108 full-time positions, would be ready to hit the streets after completing the 22-week training academy, Marshall said.

Though the federal government would pay the salaries for three years, the county would still have to pay for uniforms, vehicles, bulletproof vests and firearms, Marshall said.

The county calculates starting wages at $17.68 per hour, Marshall said, or approximatley $37,000-38,000 per year for each deputy.

"It says at the conclusion of the federal funding grantees must retain all sworn officer positions created under the grant. In other words, once we do it at the end of the grant, we have to keep it," Commissioner Butch Borasky said.

Marshall said the U.S. Department of Justice allows for a hardship waiver.

"Now if that waiver is denied, Nye County can lay off the officers if they cannot afford them. The penalty is we cannot apply for Department of Justice hiring grants for three years," Marshall said.

Marshall said the sheriff's deputy has 91 officers on patrol duty.

Marshall indicated there could be a fourth year of funding under the progarm, but he couldn't guarantee it. There's also no guarantee the county will receive funding for the 12 positions, he said.

"There's $2 billion set aside for this grant. They anticipate receiving applications for $20 billion," Marshall said.

The discussion on the new squad cars centered around whether to replace them just based on how much mileage they had. The original request was for 17 patrol vehicles at a cost of $765,000. It was whittled down to five.

Commissioner Lorinda Wichman thought with county vehicles being maintained well, replacing them after 100,000 miles when they've had no mechanical problems was wasteful.

Lt. Frank Jarvis said 44 sheriff's department vehicles had over 100,000 miles. One squad car was totaled after colliding with a burro in January.

Commissioners decided to buy five new patrol vehicles now and if they get a grant for more officers, buy five more later.

Assistant County Manager Pam Webster pieced together possible funding scenarios. The sheriff's department has $100,000 not allocated in a forfeiture fund. There's the possibility of using $250,000 out of impact fees paid by developers for law enforcement and $250,000 out of $500,000 left for capital purchases in the Payment Equal to Taxes.

They eventually took the money out of two PETT funds.

When commissioner Joni Eastley said her county vehicle with over 120,000 miles ran just fine, Lt. Frank Jarvis said sheriff's patrol cars have to be used in pursuits. There's no set standard, but different agencies replace their patrol cars when they have anywhere from 50,000 to 150,000 miles, he said.

"Sheriff, you know I'm your best friend and all of that stuff, but we don't have $750,000. I think Pam said something about $450,000," Borasky told Sheriff Tony DeMeo.

While DeMeo didn't think he could use forfeiture funds for buying vehicles, Webster said he could. DeMeo said he'd like to use much of his forfeiture money for safety equipment he didn't want to discuss in a public meeting.

"We just had a shooting incident not too long ago where my deputies were seriously injured and some of that equipment we're going to use is for officer safety," DeMeo said.

Last year the sheriff's department bought 14 new patrol vehicles from Avondale Dodge for $447,476.

Jarvis said a leasing program would cost more money, $515,000 by the fifth year for 10 cars instead of $450,000.

* Commissioners also approved applying for a Bryne Justice Assistance Grant of $62,245 to pay for a part-time clerk, equipment and overtime for drug interdiction efforts on the highways. The grant is for four years and requires a $12,000 match from the county.

* Another $212,000 grant application would provide for two positions in the drug task force, a clerk, equipment, travel, training, supplies, discretionary funds, informant money and funds for confidential buys. The county has to provide $71,000 which will be included in the 2009-10 sheriff's department budget.

* Finally, an application for a Bureau of Justice Assistance Grant good for two years will pay 100 percent of the cost of four dispatchers, a crime analyst, dispatch centers and equipment in Pahrump.