Judge Josh Thacker presented background on the county bailiffs at the Oct. 6 workshop and said the county’s bailiff structure and compensation require formalization. He told commissioners the statutory framework is unclear on who “selects” versus who “appoints” bailiffs and that the county had been the only local government structure he found where the clerk of court administered pay rather than a centralized county payroll function.

Thacker described bailiffs’ responsibilities — jury management, courtroom flow, grand-jury handling and other duties — and stressed the consequences if oath or procedure errors occur, including the potential for reversed trials. He said bailiffs are currently part-time and often retired law-enforcement or military personnel who perform court duties across five courts.

Dwayne (identified in the meeting as a bailiff administrator) and other presenters said calendar-year 2024 expenditures at current per-diem rates were about $104,000 and projected about $110,000 through August. The grand jury recommended a pay increase; presenters estimated that adopting the new rate included in the grand-jury presentment would add roughly $62,000 annually, bringing the total to about $178,000; adding uniforms and contingency raised the proposal to roughly $185,000.

County staff said the county can absorb the near-term budget impact and that payroll administration is being migrated into an appropriate county fund and payroll module (the presentation referenced county payroll code 2150). Commissioners discussed parity with regular cost-of-living adjustments and directed staff to incorporate the grand-jury recommendation into budget planning and to build a formal bailiff budget line so future adjustments and recruitment are clearer.