County reviews elected-official pay, ancillary benefits and public-safety compensation ahead of next budget

County human-resources staff and department leaders presented an overview of elected-official compensation, employee ancillary benefits and law-enforcement compensation and turnover as Commissioners Court prepares FY2026 budget priorities.

Human-resources Director Cynthia Jacobson reviewed the county's new elected-official compensation policy, which benchmarks salaries against an average of the fifth- and sixth-ranked comparable counties. Jacobson said the policy was intended to reduce the need for large catch-up increases and that the county may consider a subsequent technical change so the "fifth-sixth" benchmark is clearer for staff and the public. The presentation noted two elected officials — the county judge and the sheriff — are above both the overall average and the fifth-sixth marker, and that county court-at-law judges will require statutory supplement increases tied to recent state changes. "We're improving how we do elected official salaries," Jacobson said, and she asked the court to consider policy refinements before finalizing budget decisions.

Human-resources staff also reported on ancillary benefits, including paid leave, comp-time rules and overtime. Erica Johnson, HR, said the county paid roughly 94,000 hours of overtime in 2024 at an approximate cost of $4.2 million, with total hours down 8 percent from 2023 but costs roughly unchanged. HR reported increases in premium comp-time liability and in workers' compensation costs (a roughly 78 percent year-over-year increase), and noted county short-term and long-term disability plans remain…