In a recent meeting of the county budget committee, Sheriff Patrick Ray told commissioners that his deputies and detectives at the DeKalb County Sheriff's Department are some of the lowest paid in the state.
Ray told the committee that he has lost five employees since last October because they have found better-paying jobs at other law enforcement agencies.
According to Ray, DeKalb County has not kept up with other city and county law enforcement agencies regarding rates of pay.
The sheriff told the committee that he is concerned that he will lose more personnel if the county does not make an attempt to be competitive.
“ Since October, I've lost four or five of my deputies,” Ray told the budget committee members.
“ Most of them have been in my department for quite sometime. Some of them are over four year deputies. All of them pretty much have moved because of the pay. They've found better jobs somewhere else and some of those places offer benefits like health insurance," Ray said.
As per the committee’s request, the sheriff had compiled information on the pay scales of other similar-size county agencies in the state of Tennessee.
“ I took six out of the ten smallest counties in the state, based on the 2000 census, including Pickett, the smallest in the state with around 5,000 people, and learned that of those six counties, we were paying less than them.” Ray told the commissioners.
DeKalb County, with a population of 17,423, compensates its deputies $10.96 per hour, and pays detectives $12.99.
Pickett County, with a population of 4,945, pays deputies $12.78 per hour. Detectives in Pickett County earn $13.28.
Smith County, more in line population-wise with DeKalb with a population of 17,712, pays deputies $14.86 per hour. Smith County detectives make $16.58 per hour.
Ray also told the committee that the benefit package with some other law enforcement agencies is much better.
"The City of Smithville is another competitor of ours,” Ray said, “They start their officers at between $13.09 and $16.30 per hour. That's what some of their officers are making as just regular patrolmen.
“Their part-time officers make $14.17 per hour, which is a whole lot more than our deputies, plus they get almost $8,000 worth of health insurance, $85.00 worth of life insurance, and $276.00 worth of dental insurance," said Sheriff Ray.
The City of Alexandria pays its patrolmen $11.50 per hour, with the sergeant position paying $12.50.
The Sheriff's Department in DeKalb pays its three detectives $12.99 per hour or $27,024 per year, and the lone School Resource Officer makes $10.96 per hour, or $24, 514 per year.
The fourteen DeKalb County deputy positions pay $10.96 per hour, or $24,514 per year.
The position of sergeant  pays $12.51 per hour or $26,023 per year, and the sheriff has one on the payroll.
The fifteen correctional officers positions pay $9.92 per hour, or $22,174 per year, and the single Correctional Officer/Training Officer position pays $22,674 per year.
The department has four Secretaries/Correctional Officers positions, which pay $10.66 per hour, or $22,174 per year
The Litter Guard at the department is paid $10.66 per hour, or $22,174 per year
The cook position at the jail  pays $10.11 per hour, or $21,024 per year
The Chief Deputy spot with the department is a salaried position, paying $37,523 a year.
DeKalb County pays slightly over $200 per month toward health insurance for county employees who enroll in the plan, but the sheriff told the commissioners that because his department’s employees receive such a low rate of pay, many of his employees do not enroll because they cannot afford it.
Sheriff Ray made it clear that he isn't asking for any more benefits for his employees, only that the wage scale be modified so that the department can offer more competitive salaries.
"We're not asking for more than what our county population is,” said the sheriff. “ As a matter of fact, we're asking for a whole lot less. We just want to be competitive"
According to the sheriff, one of the biggest problems that he has with staffing is that the county pays for new employees to be certified, trained, and sent through the academy, with a two-year contractual obligation to the   county, only to have those officers immediately move on to better paying jobs after their two year obligation has been met.
The department must then hire and train new personel, who will  also most likely move on to greener pastures when their contract is up.
“The county pays around $3,500 to get each officer through the academy,” Ray said,  “as well as their salary while they are in the academy for eight weeks, along with their uniforms, vests, gun belts, and things like that. Plus, we often have to pay another officer overtime to work the shift of the one in the academy until he graduates."
The sheriff added that if the employee leaves before the contract is satisfied, the county does  recover the costs of training on a pro-rated basis.
"If we send somebody we do a two year contract with them, but if they quit within those two years we pro-rate that for them to pay us back," Ray said
Another problem is the perpetual lack of experience with such a revolving door staff.
"If the correctional officers are there, they understand the operation of the jail and the knowledge of our booking procedures and releasing of inmates,” said the sheriff. “Officers and detectives, with time, gain informants and become better acquainted with the public, which helps them solve crimes, but that becomes much more difficult with newer officers coming in all the time."
Officials on the county budget committee have asked the sheriff and County Mayor Mike Foster  to jointly formulate a reasonable pay proposal to be considered for upcoming budget approval.