St. Charles County Council holds work session on jail staffing, pay and renovations as budget constraints bite

St. Charles County Council members met in a Sept. 8 work session to review persistent staffing and operating problems at the county jail and to hear proposals from administration and corrections leaders for pay changes, incentives and facility renovations ahead of the 2026 budget.

The session did not include votes; council members and staff framed the discussion as a review of possible, budget-dependent responses to a sustained staffing shortfall and rising costs.

Council members pressed administration and corrections staff on recruitment and retention, while corrections officers described the operational impact of mandatory and volunteer overtime and a month-by-month overtime pay cadence. County staff outlined a menu of potential measures that would require funding decisions in the November budget process.

Joanne (staff member, county administration) told the council each 1% increase in a general‑fund pay raise would cost about $727,500 across county general‑fund positions; a 2% COLA was estimated to cost roughly $1.5 million. For corrections specifically, administration said it is considering moving correctional officers from pay class C4 to C5, which would change the starting salary from $48,582 to $52,226 before any cost‑of‑living adjustment.

Corrections Director Dan (staff member) described operational steps already under way: booking-area upgrades, completion of a renovated Fifth Floor, and Phase 1 work on the Third Floor. He told the council the Fifth Floor is…