By Steve Kemme
The Cincinnati Enquirer

HAMILTON - Butler County Sheriff Harold Don Gabbard slashed $2.5 million from his proposed 2003 operating budget to meet the financial limits set by the county commissioners.

Sheriff Gabbard cut his 2003 budget to $14.4 million, a $2.5 million reduction from his preliminary budget.

To achieve the commissioners' target budget for his department, he will refrain from filling eight to 12 existing vacancies and won't replace anyone who resigns or retires next year.

"I'll do whatever I have to do to make this work," Sheriff Gabbard told the commissioners Monday during a budget hearing.

Because Butler County - like other Ohio counties - is in a tight financial situation, the commissioners want the county department heads and office-holders to reduce their operating budgets by 2 percent to 6 percent.

At its budget hearing Monday, Domestic Relations Court found out that it needs to trim $27,000 from its proposed 2003 general fund budget to meet the county commissioners' target budget for the court.

The court already had cut $1.2 million from its original budget proposal to meet the commissioners' goal of $1.7 million.

One of the cuts was the $27,000 parent education program.

Linda Lovelace, court administrator, said at Monday's budget hearing that the parent education program should not have been in the general fund budget in the first place because it's paid for by court fees.

Mr. Williams said that meant that the court's target general fund budget must be lowered by $27,000.

Ms. Lovelace said she would talk to the two Domestic Relations Court judges about where to eliminate $27,000 from the budget.

Commissioner Courtney Combs said that since the number of cases filed in Domestic Relations Court has been declining, he wants to examine the possibility of not replacing Judge Leslie Spillane when she retires in two years. Sharon Kennedy is the other judge.

"I want to find out whether it's necessary to have two judges," Mr. Combs said. "We can't wait until the end of Leslie's term to look into it."

E-mail skemme@enquirer.com