Stephenson County is facing a 1.7 million dollar deficit right now for its 2009-2010 budget, and the county's asking the sheriff's office to help balance the bottom line by slashing nearly 800,000 dollars from it's budget.

So what does all this mean? Sheriff Dave Snyders says going from 13 patrol deputies covering nearly 1800 miles of roads, to five and then leaving two deputy positions unfilled. He says levels like that would force the officers to be more selective in responding to emergencies. and that scenario weakens their ability to serve and protect.

"It's an unacceptable level. It's a safety issue for the citizens. It's a safety issue for the deputies. If we have two emergencies occurring at the same time and there's additional manpower needed or we have to choose which emergency we're going to respond to, that makes it really tough," says Sheriff Snyders.

The Stephenson County Jail would see cuts too including shutting down the north wing. Sheriff Snyders says that means laying off seven corrections officers and going from a 216 bed facility to around 95.

There will be more discussion on these proposed cuts. The county board's finance committee meets Monday night for another review.