Senator Owens introduces $5.9 million RFA to address conservation officer pay inequities

Senator J. Owen Owens introduced a request for appropriations (RFA) to the Natural Resources budget committee seeking $5,900,000 to create a formal pay scale and address compensation inequities among Utah’s natural resource officers.

The RFA was presented as a response to last year’s unification of four law‑enforcement groups into a single Division of Law Enforcement under the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Ethan Justinger, president of the Utah Conservation Officers Association (UCOA), told the committee the unification left officers on widely divergent pay scales and created “large scale inequities” that threaten retention.

Why it matters: Committee members and presenters said the state relies on career conservation officers to protect public lands, water and wildlife, and to mentor new officers. Justinger said unaddressed pay compression and gaps mean agencies risk losing experienced officers and leaving newer officers without mentors.

Committee discussion and details Joel Ferry, executive director of the Department of Natural Resources, and Senator Owens framed the RFA as comparatively small relative to other statewide personnel costs and said it aimed to produce parity with other state law‑enforcement pay scales. “We are going to lose our best and brightest quickly if we don't seize the moment here to get them up to par into parity,” Senator Owens told the committee.

Ethan Justinger described the scope of the pay problem and the association’s analysis. He said the association surveyed 50 state agencies and that many conservation officers’ wages “are really hovering around the $32” (thousand) range in some classifications and that pay compression affects midcareer officers. He asked the committee to fund a multi‑year solution that would: (1) create a uniform pay scale for all natural resources officers, (2) reduce compression in years 1–7, and (3) improve parity with other state law enforcement.

Questions from committee members focused on implementation and local coordination. Representative Aldrich urged establishing strong working relationships with county sheriffs, especially in rural counties. Representative Shelley and other members emphasized retention and the risk of losing experienced officers.

Outcome: The RFA was presented and discussed; the committee did not vote on the request during the meeting and took the RFA under consideration.

Context and next steps: Presenters said the request was scrubbed down from an initial $6.5 million figure to $5.9 million before the hearing. Presenters asked the committee to prioritize the RFA in later budget deliberations so that officers waiting for action can make personal and career decisions during the upcoming session.

Ending: Committee members thanked the presenters and said they would consider the RFA as the session continued. No formal appropriation or committee direction was recorded on the floor during the hearing.