These are the highest paid Johnson County employees. One made over $380K
Your Johnson County tax dollars pay for salaries of county employees, from sheriff’s deputies and engineers to librarians and landscapers. But who makes the most?
In 2025, 912 county employees were paid more than $100,000 a year. The Kansas county had 632,276 residents in 2024, according to a Census estimate, and contains municipalities like Overland Park, Olathe, Shawnee, Lenexa, Leawood, Gardner and Prairie Village.
Governments are required by law to share how much they pay their employees. The Kansas City Star received salary information from Johnson County through a Kansas Open Records Act request.
Municipal, state and federal officials are not included. This is because they are paid by city, state or federal budgets.
In 2024, the county commission voted to give themselves a 23% pay raise, which took effect in January 2025.
Here are the salaries of top Johnson County officials in 2025.
- $336,731, county manager Penny Postoak
- $208,210, county sheriff Byron Roberson
- $92,500, county commission chair Mike Kelly
- $58,300, county commissioners
In addition to her salary, County Manager Penny Postoak received a $27,300 executive allowance, $9,000 vehicle allowance and $1,500 cellular allowance.
Some Johnson County employees racked up a lot of overtime pay. One sheriff’s deputy received $78,000 in overtime pay last year, and a total of nine county employees were paid more than $50,000 for their overtime work. Employees of emergency services and the mental health department also took home significant overtime pay.
The county’s highest paid employees included department leaders, high-ranking medical officials and lawyers.
Here are the 10 highest paid Johnson County, Kansas employees for 2025:
- Penny Postoak, county manager: $386,317
- Sobia Shaffie, chief medical officer, Mental Health: $343,054
- Diane Peterson, chief medical examiner, Health and Environmental: $303,131
- Julie Karins, deputy county manager: $279,124
- Peggy Trent, chief counsel, Legal: $275,907
- Bryan Beaver, EMS system medical director, Health and Environmental: $270,600
- Andrew Lauronilla, staff psychiatrist, Mental Health: $264,056
- Darron Leiker, assistant county manager: $242,069
- Aaron Witt, chief engineer, Wastewater: $241,221
- Stephen Howe, district attorney: $240,027
Look through the full database at KansasCity.com of more than 900 Johnson County, Kansas, employees who were paid over $100,000 in 2025.
This story was originally published February 13, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
