EUGENE, Ore. -- Lane County sheriff's deputies are being forced to pick up the workload left behind after last year's layoffs cut staffing.

Lane County had the second lowest number of sworn officers in the state in 2007, according to a report released this month by the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission. When compared to larger counties like Multnomah or Marion, Lane County officers each responded to as many as 25 more offenses per year.

Last year's analysis is not available yet, but the situation has not improved. There are currently just three deputies working each shift.

"It's the worst that I've seen," said Deputy Billy Halvorson, Lane County Sheriff's Office.

The 11-year veteran of the sheriff's office spent his Monday evening shift working as one of the three patrol units. Halvorson typically works as the only traffic officer. Short-staffing sent him responding to calls in every direction: from a family who had their gun stolen in a burglary, to red light runners, and even a man who was in possession of methamphetamine and threatening suicide.

"We're working in a county the size of Connecticut, and we have to prioritize," said Laura Hartman, a dispatcher for Lane County.

Hartman also wears many hats, including 'the bearer of bad news.' She's the one who ultimately has to tell Lane County residents when there isn't a deputy to respond to their calls for help.

"That's pretty agonizing. It happens a lot, a lot," said Hartman. "And I think that's the most stressful part of my job."

Everyday, backlogs of calls for service are waiting to be answered.

"It's impossible to cover the size of Lane County with three deputy sheriffs and a supervisor," said Sgt. Fred Swank, Lane County Sheriff's Office.

In a nearly empty room at the sheriff's office in Downtown Eugene, a briefing reveals the dire situation to deputies about to start their night.

"If you can imagine, if one of the deputies is in River Road, and the priority call for service is in Pleasant Hill, even if one of these cars is closer to Pleasant Hill, their safety dictates that they need to wait until they get a cover officer there before they get into that call for service," said Swank.

Those lucky enough to get a deputy to take a report, will need a detective to investigate the crime before charges can be filed, but the department's six detectives have been reduced to just two.

Detective Randall Fenley has learned to shift his focus at the drop of a hat.

"It will be divided. I'll probably work a little bit on the rape this afternoon, in between we're interviewing the suspect in the bank robbery," said Fenley.

Juggling acts, long hours and unanswered calls are what you can expect from the Lane County Sheriff's Office, but the Board of Commissioners are working on patching up some of the holes.

In a telephone interview Tuesday afternoon, Board Chairman Pete Sorenson told KVAL News five deputies could be added to the county budget by July 1st. He added if all goes well, those deputies should be on the force shortly after that. However, Oregon law requires the county to have a budget committee, and that committee will have to vote on the additional deputies before commissioners can proceed.

On Thursday, Sheriff Russ Burger will testify before the committee at a public safety meeting being held in the Board of Commissioners Conference Room at 5:15 p.m.