Missouri paid its public employees $2.1 billion in 2019. See who made the most
Missouri state agencies paid their public employees more than $2.1 billion last year, according to new data in the state’s salary database.
Payrolls at the Department of Corrections and the Department of Mental Health accounted for nearly 30 percent of that, with a combined payroll of $634.3 million
All but one of the top 30 highest paid employees in the state database work for the mental health department. The exception was Todd Richardson, who in 2018 was appointed by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson to run the state-run health insurance program for the poor.
As division director for MO HealthNet, which is under the Missouri Department of Social Services, Richardson had a gross pay of $227,156, which was the 18th highest in the state, according to the database.
Unlike the Kansas salary database, the Missouri database does not include colleges and university employees. Also not included are employees for the Missouri Housing Development Commission, Missouri Agriculture and Small business Development Authority.
The compensation data is recorded on the basis of gross pay for a calendar year, which includes all pay received by an employee and is not necessarily the employee’s base salary.
The top five highest paid employees in the database last year were psychiatrists with the mental health department. The highest paid was Sekhar Vangala, who had a gross pay of $418,568.
The next three highest paid were Jairam Das, with a gross pay of $378,409, Nezar A. El-Ruwie, with a gross pay of $361,820, and Naveen K. Yarasi, with a gross pay of $361,684.
With a gross pay of $348,447, Manisha M. Lele, rounded out the top five highest paid.
Want to know what other state employees made? Search the database by typing in the person’s last name or full name. An auto-complete feature will help you find the persons you are looking for. A drop-down menu will help you find the agency or job title you are searching for.
Missouri public employee salaries
The data, which is an open record under the Missouri Sunshine Law, includes all state part-time and full-time employees, as well as employees who worked a partial year.
The data includes names of all state employees except those closed from public view according to the Missouri Sunshine Law or other state or federal law. In some instances, names have been withheld to protect their confidentiality.
