FAYETTEVILLE -- Washington County justices of the peace on Tuesday endorsed a sheriff's office plan that will increase pay for jail and communications employees at a cost of about $667,000 for the remainder of 2022.
Chief Deputy Jay Cantrell told the county's Finance and Budget Committee the sheriff's office had unfilled positions so no new money will be required this year.
Cantrell said the sheriff's office had about $222,000 in unspent salaries for the first quarter of the year. The sheriff's office has about 40 open positions in the jail and another seven in the dispatch center.
Sheriff Tim Helder told the county's Personnel Committee on Monday that the new pay plan is modeled after one used by the Fayetteville Police Department. Helder told the justices of the peace the county is finding it harder to recruit and retain employees, saying "we don't match up to our peers" in pay.
The committee also endorsed a number of title changes within the sheriff's office. Cantrell said the changes were mostly "a bookkeeping" matter that allows employees to be moved up in pay when they have reached certain training requirements or time in a pay grade without having to go through the process of changing their job title.
The justices of the peace also endorsed Helder's request to hire a legal adviser for the sheriff 's office. The position would have a pay range from about $72,000 to about $96,000. The money for the position would come from eliminating two other positions in the Sheriff's Office budget that are currently unfilled.
The Finance and Budget Committee voted to send an ordinance creating the new position to the full Quorum Court for consideration. The Quorum Court will meet on June 16.
Helder told the county's Personnel Committee on Monday the sheriff 's office needs someone with expertise in law enforcement and detention issues to work with the rest of the command staff. He said there is "an uptick" in the number of lawsuits being filed against the sheriff's office and the trend nationally is that such lawsuits are increasing elsewhere. Helder said his office specifically "is inundated with FOI requests" and a recent lawsuit shows the need to have information reviewed to be certain it can be released. Helder said the legal counsel can also assist with training and education for Sheriff's Office employees.
"It's paramount that we have the correct policies in place," Helder said.
The Finance and Budget Committee also endorsed an ordinance accepting about $904,000 in state grant money in the Department of Emergency Management grant fund. About $555,000 of the money will go for machinery and equipment for the urban search and rescue program, the SWAT program and other emergency programs.