Delegation debates tying Frederick sheriff’s pay to state police scale; panel to form bipartisan ad hoc group

Senator Fulton presented LR2634, a proposal intended to raise the Frederick County sheriff’s salary by tying it to the pay of a lieutenant colonel in the Maryland State Police. Fulton said the bill would give parity with neighboring jurisdictions and prevent repeated revisits of the salary question.

Members raised procedural and policy objections. Delegate Kerr said the lieutenant colonel "answers to somebody" while an elected sheriff does not, and argued elected officials typically are not tied to another agency’s pay scale. Senator Karen Lisonbee raised human-resources concerns, saying the proposal appeared to produce a large increase (speaking in the meeting she noted an increase of roughly 78 percent) and that job descriptions and comparisons to similar counties were needed before approving such a steep change.

Others urged action to resolve what several members described as a recurring and politically fraught issue. Delegate Fair and others said Frederick County’s sheriff oversees a wide set of duties — chief law enforcement officer and jail management — and that the county has not adjusted the sheriff’s salary for many years. Several members noted precedent in other counties for linking an elected official’s pay to another scale or allowing the county to set salaries.

The delegation did not vote on LR2634. Several members — including Senator Lewis Young and others — proposed forming an ad hoc bipartisan working group (two senators and two delegates, balanced by party) to gather comparative salary research, secure a letter of support from the county executive’s office, and return with a recommendation. Delegation leadership said it would appoint the working group and circulate research within a week.