Elkhart County personnel panel approves multiple pay and staffing changes, denies proposed full‑time county attorney role

Elkhart County’s Personnel Committee approved a package of pay adjustments, reclassifications and staffing‑funding moves across several departments during a lengthy meeting that covered communications, planning, public health, courts, the sheriff’s office, community corrections and solid waste.

The committee voted to approve a market‑rate pay adjustment for the county’s public safety communications center (PSCC), several reclassifications in planning and redevelopment, personnel funding shifts in the health department, a set of judiciary personnel actions (including converting a family‑court coordinator from a permanent part‑time to a full‑time role), pay and hours changes in the sheriff’s office, specialty pay for community corrections trainers and a proposed canine handler premium, and two changes in the solid waste fund. One notable proposal — creating an in‑house, countywide staff attorney position — was rejected by the committee after discussion of duties, conflicts and potential liability; members said the county should instead consider paralegal support or limited in‑house legal help targeted to specific, high‑volume tasks.

Why it matters: the approved items are intended to improve retention and reduce training churn in high‑turnover specialties (dispatch, corrections, probation and jail custody), to align pay with regional markets for public safety roles, and to shift grant‑funded positions to locally generated program income where possible. Several approvals were framed as cost‑management moves intended to avoid recurring overtime, reduce reliance on outside consultants and help departments sustain services amid shifting grant support.

Most significant approvals and discussion points

- PSCC (911) pay study and market increases: Egbert Dykstra of PSCC presented a pay study showing the county’s starting dispatch pay trailed neighboring centers. The committee approved a multi‑tier starting pay increase and modest shift differentials to improve recruiting and retention; consultants’ materials and county staff estimated the recurring cost and surcharge impacts.

- Planning and redevelopment: Committee members agreed to reclassify two planner positions and a redevelopment coordinator (the latter funded through TIF reimbursements). Members also directed that legal services tied to TIF projects be paid directly from TIF receipts rather than the general planning budget, which the committee said would more accurately reflect funding flows.

- Health department personnel moves: Melanie Sizemore and Andrew Bilesma described moving several employees between grant sources (WIC, tobacco, other grants and program income) to reduce pressure on the county general fund; the committee approved the internal funding alignment and withdrew a separate request after confirmation of state funding for WIC salary increases.

- Judiciary staffing: Court Administrator Ross Maxwell secured approval to return two court referees the county had previously converted away from the budget; the committee also approved converting a permanent part‑time family‑court case manager to a full‑time position (committee members stressed the role’s importance to the unified family‑court initiative), a clerical/secretary reclassification tied to courthouse consolidation, and certification pay for juvenile detention canine handlers and their backup handlers.

- Sheriff’s office market adjustments and support staffing: The committee approved a market‑based pay recommendation for patrol and corrections positions intended to retain experienced officers and reduce the county’s training costs. The committee also approved moving certain part‑time support staff schedules from 72 to 80 hours (eliminating excess‑hours reliance) and approved the sheriff’s request to create an HR liaison position for the department with the committee’s direction that a consultant reclassification be finalized before it is locked into the salary ordinance.

- Community corrections: The committee approved up to a small hourly premium for certified field training officers and authorized program‑income funding moves to cover several positions after some grant reductions; the committee also approved planning for a canine handler pay premium contingent on grant funding to acquire and train a dog.

- Solid waste: The committee approved a reclassification of an administrative position and a 2.5% market adjustment for heavy equipment operators.

Rejected proposal: staff attorney

Committee members debated a proposal to add a countywide staff attorney to handle routine contract, right‑of‑way and project work in‑house with the stated goal of reducing outside counsel costs. Several members raised concerns about conflicts (elected officials and departments needing independent advice), malpractice exposure, the potential for politicization if a single attorney served all elected officials, and whether the expected savings would materialize. After discussion, the committee voted to deny the staff‑attorney request and asked county legal staff to return with narrower alternatives — for example, higher‑level paralegal support or a narrowly scoped in‑house legal specialist — and concrete estimates of how outside‑counsel spending could be reduced.

Next steps and process notes

Several approvals depend on the county salary ordinance and consultant reclassifications. Committee members emphasized that final funding and classification changes will be incorporated in the salary ordinance process; some votes were cast with the understanding that the salary ordinance (and any required amendments) will finalize pay bands and funding sources.

Quotations

"We lost seven dispatchers in the last 18 months…they went somewhere else to do exactly the same job just for more pay," Egbert Dykstra said, urging market adjustments for PSCC.

"This is the one priority" the judiciary requested for the budget cycle, Court Administrator Ross Maxwell said of the family‑court case manager conversion.

"We need somebody that can maintain control, constant eyeballs on the turnover," Sheriff Chief Deputy Sean Holmes said in support of an HR liaison for the sheriff’s office, while members urged careful definition of duties and funding.

Ending

Committee members asked departments to return with narrow, verifiable savings estimates where reclassification or new positions are proposed, and they encouraged further work with the county consultant to ensure classifications match job duties before those changes are locked into the salary ordinance.