Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Sheriff Pay And Operations topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Orange County committee approves raise for per‑diem deputies to build transport team
Summary
The Public Safety and Emergency Services Committee approved raising the starting hourly rate for per‑diem deputy sheriffs from $25.51 to $32.46 to recruit staff for a dedicated transport team, officials said. The committee recorded no opposition.
The Orange County Public Safety and Emergency Services Committee on an administrative motion approved increasing the starting hourly pay for per‑diem deputy sheriffs from $25.51 to $32.46 to help recruit personnel for a new transport team, officials said.
Committee members said the increase will be funded from the sheriff’s existing budget. Sheriff Paul Arzetta introduced the item as legislative request 033 and the committee voted without recorded opposition.
Chief Meredith Montgomery, who led the presentation, said the county is struggling to attract qualified per‑diem deputies at the current rate. “We’ve gone through all of the surrounding towns, and they’re all paying between $30 and $36.98 an hour to their per‑diem starting,” Montgomery said. She said the sheriff’s office currently has about 40 per‑diems on patrol (separate from roughly 70 school‑contract per‑diems) and plans to assemble a transport team that would relieve full‑time patrol staff.
Montgomery said transports have grown substantially: the office performed about 650 transports in 2022 and more than 900 in 2024, many requiring multiple deputies and long out‑of‑county trips. She told the committee a transport team of per‑diems would be more cost‑effective than holding over midnight patrol shifts and would improve safety for deputies and inmates.
Committee members asked about budgetary and labor impacts. Montgomery said vehicles are already available, that some transports receive partial reimbursement (juvenile transports and certain warrants), and that the per‑diems considered for the team would be certified officers, including retired employees returning part time. She said the proposed starting rate mirrors elements of a 2023 resolution that included step increases and an annual 3% increase added each January.
The committee chair called the motion and recorded no opposition; the item was approved for implementation to recruit and staff the transport team.
The vote was taken on the committee floor; no nay or abstention was announced during the roll call on the motion.
