MAYVILLE – The Sheriff’s Office is adding a paid minister to its staff.

During the Chautauqua County Legislature meeting, lawmakers approved a resolution to set the salary for a chaplain. The title had been recognized when the Chautauqua County Home for seniors was owned by the county. That position now is part of the Sheriff’s budget.

The chaplain will be paid up to 19 hours a week.

There was no discussion during the full legislature meeting, but Sheriff Jim Quattrone explained the position during two of the committee meetings the week prior.

According to Quattrone, the Sheriff’s Office has had a volunteer chaplain for several years. The current chaplain has been with the department since 2019. “The work he has been doing has greatly benefited our agency – the patrol division as well as the corrections division,” he said.

Quattrone said the chaplain is also utilized during traumatic events. “It can be a service to the victims of different tragedies,” he said.

For his budget, Quattrone said he has a vacant part-time investigator position that he has been unable to fill. He will use that position for the chaplain role.

Quattrone said if the chaplain works 19 hours a week for 52 weeks, it would be $24,000. There are no additional financial benefits. He doesn’t expect that individual to work all of those hours, but the budget will provide for it, should it happen.

Quattrone believes this individual has a lot to offer, even financially. “What I looked at is the cost savings through some of the people he’s counseled, his ability to really help them work through stressful situations, traumatic situations, where maybe they haven’t had to seek a clinical psychologist or counselor,” he said.

He added that the chaplain has helped deputies who are struggling to process things, instead of quitting. “I firmly believe this position ends up being a cost savings to the county and to the Sheriff’s Office,” Quattrone said.

The current chaplain has his own church, but Quattrone said he doesn’t promote it with this position. “He’s not out there to try and convert people. He doesn’t really talk about his church. He doesn’t talk about his faith. He is there as a counselor, as a sounding board, and as a comfort,” he said.

The county’s job description on file requires a chaplain to get certification in the chaplaincy, which the current chaplain has.

Quattrone said he would love to have a full-time chaplain, but this particular individual has his own church and there isn’t a desire by him to work more than the 19 hours a week.

The Public Safety, Administrative Services, and Audit and Control committees all backed the position. During the Administrative Services Committee meeting Quattrone was not in attendance. Legislator Susan Parker, D-Fredonia voted against the resolution in that committee meeting, saying she had too many questions.

By the time the full legislature voted in the resolution, Parker, along with the other 17 legislators at the meeting, voted in favor. Legislator Dan Pavlock, R-Sinclairville, was absent.