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HENRIETTA – Data some voters might consider before deciding whether to vote Aug. 2 to fund or reject a new Ray County jail involve calls made to the Ray County Sheriff’s Office.

In short: Are calls rising or falling?

The answer might suggest whether the Sheriff’s Office has been doing more or less work.

Using information provided by Ray County 911/Central Dispatch and the Ray County Sheriff’s Office, Ray County law enforcers are receiving substantially more calls than they were 10 years ago.

In the last full year before COVID-19, June 2018 to June 2019, the Sheriff’s Office addressed a record 8,955 calls, compared to 6,200 calls in 2010-2011. The difference, 2,755 calls, equals a 44.4% increase over the past decade.

The numbers have gone up steadily, having started in the low 6,000s and 7,000s range, and topping 8,000 for the first time in 2017-2018.

Calls for June 2020 to June 2021 fell to 4,300. The low number is anomalous because of the installation of a new communication syste…