Sheriff seeks pay adjustment for jail administrator; committee forwards ordinance 25-27 to budget and finance

The Faulkner County Personnel Committee voted to forward proposed ordinance 25-27, a reclassification and salary adjustment request from the sheriff's office, to the budget and finance committee for further review.

The sheriff's representative (identified in the transcript as Chief Woolly) told the committee that a recent termination created a vacancy for the jail administrator position and that the county sought more experienced applicants. In a 2025 salary survey the sheriff's office found Faulkner County pays its jail administrators $69,500 while the class 6 county average is about $77,700. "Out of all the class 6 counties, we are the largest detention facility as far as bed space," the chief said, and applicants told him the current pay was "not enough for your size facility."

To increase competitiveness, the sheriff requested using a previously capped assistant jail administrator position and its capped salary of $5,163.60 to raise the jail administrator salary to about $74,063. The chief said that would still be below the class 6 average but would be more appealing to potential applicants.

The committee took a motion and second to send the ordinance 25-27 to budget and finance. The chair called the vote and said, "All those in favor, please say aye. Aye." The committee did not record individual roll-call votes or a named tally in the transcript.

The sheriff's office will await budget committee review for authorization to reclassify and reallocate the capped funds.

No hiring action or final salary change was recorded at the committee meeting; the request was forwarded for budgetary consideration.