ROCKY MOUNT -- For the fourth time in two years, constitutional offices around Virginia were hit with state budget cuts in early September.

This week in Franklin County, Finance Director Vincent Copenhaver worked with the county's constitutional officers -- the sheriff, treasurer, commissioner of revenue, clerk of Circuit Court and commonwealth's attorney -- to find a solution. He presented four choices to the board of supervisors that could cover the $294,124 in additional state cuts the county faces.

The supervisors could cover the entire cost of the state cuts, share them with the constitutional officers or put the entire financial burden on the officers. The last option was to wait and see how the next governor handles budget cuts.

Supervisors ultimately decided to use $134,124 in county money to help offset the cuts, Copenhaver said.

To come up with the remaining $160,000, the officers have determined vacant positions they can continue to operate without filling.

Positions that are already vacant and will remain so include:

n One of two assistant commonwealth's attorney positions.

n Three of four deputy positions in the sheriff's office.

n One assessor position in the commissioner of the revenue's office.

Also, the treasurer has offered to give up funds for part-time employees, funds that were divided by the county and the state. The clerk of court has agreed to cut operating costs.

"It's good that everyone here has a job and their salaries held," Supervisor Russ Johnson said.

While keeping people employed is helpful, the inability to hire has made the work for some offices difficult.

If the state passes down more cuts in the coming months, constitutional officers may have to decide if they need to close their offices to the public one day a week to catch up on the workload, Copenhaver said.

Commonwealth's Attorney Cliff Hapgood said his office should have five assistant commonwealth's attorneys, according to state requirements. He currently has three. The open assistant positions have been vacant for years to prepare for impending cuts, Hapgood said.

"They talk about cutting fat out of the budget," he said. "We've never had fat in the budget to start with."

State support varies among each of the constitutional offices.

The commonwealth's attorney's office relies most heavily on state funds, with 74 percent of its $677,000 budget coming from the state.

The commissioner of revenue relies on state funds the least, with 31 percent of its $540,000 budget coming from the state and the rest from county coffers.

But, Copenhaver pointed out, all of the duties of each office are benefits to the locality.

Supervisor David Hurt agreed.

"We need to focus on the service to the citizens," he said. "We need to pursue every avenue to lessen the impact."

Treasurer Lynda Messenger agreed and pointed out the predicament of cutting the services the officers provide, especially because some of their duties are to collect revenue for the town.

Her office has been going after delinquent taxpayers and has already recovered more than $200,000 for the county, a task that would be more difficult if her staff is cut further, she said.