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RAISES FOR DEPUTIES TO BE DISCUSSED

By Ray King/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Saturday, November 21, 2009 10:13 PM CST

Salary increases for Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies and juvenile officers for next year will be discussed during Jefferson County Quorum Court committee meetings Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.

During regular committee meetings earlier this month, the county’s legislative body approved the 2010 budgets for all other county agencies and departments, but put off action on the budgets for the sheriff’s department and juvenile court to reconcile differences between the raises requested and funds available.

Originally, Sheriff Gerald Robinson had asked for pay hikes of approximately $3,000 for deputies, a figure County Judge Mike Holcomb said was “more than what some members of the quorum court would accept at this time.”

The revised budget calls for a salary hike of $2,000 plus benefits for deputies, and between $500 and $2,000 for juvenile officers next year.

“There is a problem in Jefferson County and that’s a safety problem,” said Dr. Herman Ginger, chairman of the quorum court’s public safety/emergency services committee. “People are concerned about their safety.

“We don’t pay our deputies enough, especially when you consider that every day, those men and women climb into cars and put their lives on the line,” he said. “”It’s time for us to step up to the batter’s box and pay our deputies what they’re worth.”

“We need to be competitive,” Ginger said. “If we want people to come to work for the county, we need to pay them good salaries to get them here, and keep them here.”

Robinson said it’s been difficult to keep deputies, who will work for a year or so at the department, get their training, then move to other law enforcement agencies that pay bigger salaries.

“Right now we’re become a training ground and I believe these increases will at least help us to reduce that problem and keep people longer,” he said.

Also to be considered by the quorum court committees will be a $172,546 budget for maintenance and operations for the District Court for 2010.

The city of Pine Bluff is currently paying maintenance and operational costs for the court, which is located in the civic center complex. When it moves to the new district court building, tentatively scheduled for March 1, the county will assume the costs.

That figure does not include salaries for Division One Court personnel, which will be redesigned as Jefferson County District Court after the move to the new building. Those salaries will be considered early next year when the court budget is reconsidered.

With the additions and changes, the county’s total proposed budget for 2010 is set at $12,387,272.

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