Johnson County commissioners vote to recommend increase in sheriff’s deputy salaries
The Johnson County Board of Commissioners voted Thursday to recommend a plan that would increase pay for incoming sheriff deputies.
After a presentation on a loss of deputies at the sheriff’s office, commissioners voted 4-2, with one absent, to recommend the staff consider a proposal from human resources to increase the minimum and maximum potential salaries of sheriff’s deputies with an annual planned increase in pay.
The sheriff’s office, which employs just over 500 deputies along with civilian employees, pushed for salary increases after experiencing a higher vacancy rate than normal. There are 69 deputy vacancies in the office, according to a presentation made to the board by human resources and sheriff’s office officials. They said the openings have led to reduced community policing and staffing in jails and court security.
Under the proposal laid out by officials in human resources, deputies would earn a base pay of $55,120 and could earn a maximum salary of more than $91,000. The recommendation, if approved, would lead to a 15% increase in deputy salaries.
A proposal laid out by Sheriff Calvin Hayden would make deputies’ base salary about $64,000 with a possible maximum salary up to just over $90,600.
According to a presentation by officials in human resources, the average salary for deputies in Johnson County exceeds the average for other deputies in the area for the first five years of employment.
But the average annual pay dips below the market average once a deputy has worked with the office for six years or more compared to officers in cities like Overland Park and Lawrence, where they can make a maximum salary of around $85,000 and $81,000, respectively.
Hayden told commissioners that the sheriff’s office had lost around 60 deputies over the last three months because the office’s salaries were not competitive with other departments across the region. The analyses from human resources compared salaries with local departments, but Hayden said the sheriff’s office often recruits employees nationally and has to worry about competitive salaries from cities like Wichita, Des Moines and Omaha.
Some commissioners argued that the difference could be made up by offering $5,000 to $10,000 signing bonuses based on a candidate’s experience. Hayden argued that deputies would look for openings with a higher salary, rather than a one-time bonus.
