Providence County Courthouse’s lack of deputies leads to court hearings backlogged

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — The Providence County Courthouse has a lack of sheriffs, which is causing a backlog in court hearings and now a major conflict for the court’s day-to-day operations.

Marisa Brown, administrator of the Superior Court, said that “the biggest challenge now is not just recruiting sheriffs, but the retention component is the biggest part.”

Brown explained why there has been a shortage in sheriffs, saying they are unable to compete as a law enforcement agency in Rhode Island with the salary and benefits of other agencies and police departments.

“We may start a day in this court, just in Providence County where we are down four to five sheriffs, which means four to five courtrooms where judges can’t take the stand at the start of the day,” Brown explained.

Chief Sheriff David DeCesare said the sheriff’s department needs to get more competitive in order to retain deputies.

DeCesare said, “It is not an ideal situation — I marvel at the job our current staff is doing, they are working through a short staff, they get the job done day in and day out.”

There is still hope for the courthouse as Thursday night was the graduation for the deputies who are ready to pave the way for their future in law enforcement.

“We were able to graduate 14 candidates to become deputy sheriffs and we still have 34 vacancies in the organization.” DeCesare said.

“[We’re] trying not to focus on that, tonight was all about the 14 who graduated,” he said, addressing the class of graduates.

The need for security being at its peak is another reason for the strong need for deputies to be active in the workforce.

“The need for security in Rhode Island’s court systems and in this country is probably just as great as we have seen the need for security in schools and other public buildings,” Brown concluded.