Firings and layoffs are on the table to correct Dallas County budget concerns.
Costs could be $50 million over budget if nothing changes.
The budget office and Commissioner Andrew Sommerman each presented recommendations on Tuesday at the Dallas County Commissioners Court meeting.
High overtime and some medical leave pay in the sheriff and juvenile departments raised suspicions of abuse. Some employees reported working 18 hours a day, seven days a week.
Sommerman said an alarm should have been raised.
"In October, we spent approximately $2.2 [million]. In November, we spent $2.4 [million]," he said. "Sometime in December, we hit the year's budget. If I'd known that back then, we could have course corrected perhaps faster, but I didn't know.
Commissioner John Wiley Price says some employees appear to be gaming federal medical protections.
"There are some serial abusers. You can tell when people are serially abusing," he said. "'You got to stay over time.' 'Oh my doctor said my back I can't stay' ... this stuff, it kills us."
The sheriff's department and jail so far have spent almost $13 million on overtime. That's more than $7 million over budget.
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