These are the highest paid Johnson County employees. One made over $375K in 2024

Your Johnson County tax dollars pay for salaries of county employees, from sheriff’s deputies and road maintenance workers, to IT leaders and swim lesson instructors. But who makes the most?

In 2024, 875 county employees were paid more than $100,000 a year. The Kansas county had 632,276 residents in 2024, according to a Census estimate.

Governments are required by law to share how much they pay their employees. The Kansas City Star received salary information from Johnson County and the Johnson County Parks and Recreation Department through a Kansas Open Records Act requests.

Municipal, state and federal officials are not included. This is because they are paid by city, state or federal budgets. The Star has also published 2024 salary information for Kansas, Missouri and Kansas City.

Here is the pay of high-ranking Johnson County officials for 2024, from county records and the Johnson County Post:

• Penny Postoak, county manager: $376,180 gross pay

• Calvin Hayden, then-county sheriff: $208,072 gross pay

• Mike Kelly, county commissioner chairman: $75,000 salary

• County commissioners: $47,349 salary

In December, the elected county commission voted to give themselves 23% raises, which took effect in early 2025.

In the sheriff’s office, 69 employees received more than $20,000 in overtime in 2024, including two who received more than $70,000.

Some of the highest paid county employees were leaders of county departments, including IT, mental health and legal.

1. Penny Postoak, county manager: $376,180

2. Sobia Shaffie, chief medical officer, Mental Health: $315,663

3. Diane Peterson, chief medical examiner (coroner), Health and Environment: $285,346

4. Peggy Trent, chief counsel, Legal Department: $282,904

5. Julie Karins, deputy county manager: $278,006

6. Joseph Connor, assistant county manager: $267,866

7. Andrew Lauronilla, staff psychiatrist, Mental Health: $242,788

8. William Nixon, chief information officer, Technology & Innovation: $233,002

9. Stephen Howe, district attorney: $232,079

10. Adam Norris, assistant county manager: $225,737

You can check out the 2024 salaries of all Johnson County employees paid more than $100,000. Go here if you cannot see the table below.

Have more questions about where your Kansas tax dollars go? Ask the Service Journalism team at kcq@kcstar.com.

This story was originally published March 31, 2025 at 5:00 AM.

Eleanor Nash

The Kansas City Star

816-234-4158

Eleanor Nash is a service journalism reporter at The Star. She covers transportation, local oddities and everything else residents need to know. A Kansas City native and graduate of Wellesley College, she previously worked at The Myrtle Beach Sun News in South Carolina and at KCUR.