With 11 officers standing by in support, Sheriff Chris Curry pleaded with the Shelby County Commission Monday to consider his budget request for an additional 15 deputies and 10 corrections officers.

Curry&8217;s request came at the latest of several work sessions held by the commission to lay out the details of a $129.9 million spending plan for fiscal year 2007.

&8220;What is asked in that request is not for the sheriff. It&8217;s not for the sheriff&8217;s office,&8221; Curry said. &8220;This request is for the citizens of this county. They tell us what we need in calls for service. The citizens are telling us what level of service they want.&8221;

The commission in previous meetings reached an informal agreement to add the 10 corrections officers, but commissioners were split on whether to grant Curry&8217;s request for a traffic unit with an additional four deputies or the requested six.

He had also asked for four investigators, an administrative sergeant, two school resource officers and two deputies for a warrant service unit.

Commission Chair Lindsey Allison expressed her reservations, citing budget concerns and a trend toward less unincorporated land.

Shelby County&8217;s unincorporated areas – the primary area serviced by the Sheriff&8217;s department – are annexed at a rate of nearly 20 square miles per year, according to Allison.

&8220;What I see down the line is we are going to have less and less money to give you,&8221; she said.

Both Curry and Allison agreed on the need for a public safety plan &8220;to provide protection and infrastructure to the people coming here expecting to find public safety.&8221;

Commissioners said they will continue to look at ways to balance Curry&8217;s requests with a tightening budget, including a suggestion by Larry Dillard that $400,000 be pulled from a $1 million general fund account designated for improving dirt roads.

The commission has set Sept. 11 as a target date for an approved budget