Kalamazoo County expands ARPA-funded hiring bonuses for sheriff's deputies, approves recruitment 'bounty' program

The Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners voted July 15 to expand a county program that uses American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money to pay hiring bonuses at the sheriff's office and to authorize an internal recruitment incentive.

Under two separate votes, the board approved allocating remaining ARPA funds to extend the sheriff's hiring bonus to corrections deputies and, in a second vote, to corrections clerks and food‑service specialists. The board also approved a “county bounty” program that will pay a $1,000 referral payment to any sheriff's office employee who recruits a new worker who completes the required probationary period.

The program is an extension of a hiring-and-retention effort the county has used for MCOLES‑certified deputies and, more recently, for nurses. Undersheriff Michelle Greenlee described the proposal as a tool to recruit and retain staff in positions the sheriff's office is having trouble filling, saying the county previously used ARPA funds to send recruits through academy training and to offer hiring bonuses for hard-to-fill classifications.

Greenlee told commissioners the county proposes to add three job classes to the hiring-bonus program: corrections deputies, corrections clerks (the civilian booking/release staff) and food‑service specialists. For the civilian classes the sheriff's office proposed a $5,000 bonus paid in two parts (half up front, half after one year of probation). The county bounty would pay $1,000 to any employee who recruits a new hire who survives the probationary year.

Vice Chair Taylor moved the first, narrower expansion — adding corrections deputies to the bonus program — and the motion passed on roll call (tally: yes 8, no 0). A subsequent motion to extend the ARPA-funded hiring bonuses to corrections clerks and food‑service positions passed on roll call (tally: yes 7, no 1). The board then approved the county bounty program by roll call (tally: yes 8, no 0).

Commissioners raised concerns about longer-term pay and working conditions for civilian jail staff. Several commissioners urged that, while one-time ARPA bonuses can help short-term recruitment, wage increases and improvements to the jail work environment are essential to retain employees and reduce overtime and burnout. Vice Chair Taylor and others noted that the ARPA funds are finite and that sustained wage changes would require bargaining with the unions and budgeting in future general‑fund cycles.

Finance staff said about $120,000–$135,000 remained in the sheriff’s ARPA allotment to pay recruitment and retention incentives; commissioners and county staff acknowledged the pot will be exhausted and that further programs would require another funding source.

Undersheriff Greenlee described the sheriff’s staffing picture: the jail division showed roughly 27 vacancies across sergeant, corrections deputy, corrections clerk and nurse roles, and the agency faces overtime, injured workers and employees on leave that further strain staffing. She told the board the recruitment-and-bounty programs had shown results in other classifications and said the office will also maintain traditional community recruitment efforts and fairs.

The board did not set a new ongoing funding source for the bonuses; officials said any sustained salary increases would be handled through union negotiations and the county’s regular budget process.

Ending: The sheriff’s office will implement the bonus and bounty rules under existing ARPA funding and report back as hires occur; commissioners asked for data on hires and retention rates when the program is evaluated in coming months.