The San Benito County Sheriff's Office will be able to add two deputies to its barebones patrol staff, having received support Jan. 20 from the county Board of Supervisors, who responded to what Sheriff Darren Thompson previously dubbed "deep and damaging" budget cuts blamed for a reduction of deputy sheriffs from 24 six years ago to 12 now.

​County supervisors Tuesday approved the hiring of two full-time equivalent deputy sheriffs, along with the recruitment without commitment for two others.

Last year, Thompson urged the board to allow an augmentation of his budget that would have let the department rebuild its workforce, according to a previous report by BenitoLink.

This year, Thompson said that he "can't wait" until June, when supervisors expect that they will have better understandings of the county's budget.

"I'm going to come back in April or May to ask for the funding of the other two," Thompson told the board. "I'm going to have those people ready to go in the event that you say yes."