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Commissioners approve higher-step hire for ECO lateral in sheriff's dispatch
Summary
The board approved bringing a lateral emergency communications operator (ECO) into the sheriff's dispatch center at a higher compensation step to reflect 15 years' experience and shorten training time; the approval was contingent on completion of background and medical checks.
Captain Andy Deak of the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office asked the Board of Commissioners on June 2 to approve hiring a lateral emergency communications operator (ECO) at a higher compensation step to reflect the applicant's 15 years of experience and to shorten onboarding time.
Deak said the county had extended a conditional offer pending background investigations and medical and psychiatric testing. He said the lateral hire's experience would reduce training time from as much as a year for a new applicant to roughly six months and would help train additional staff more quickly.
A commissioner moved to approve the request to hire at the higher compensation step (described in staff remarks as "new hire above 97% of market"); the motion passed with three ayes recorded. The board and staff clarified the action is a new-hire compensation step approval rather than a "higher duty" pay request and that the hire remains contingent on successful completion of required background and medical screening.
The motion was recorded as approved; commissioners did not specify salary amounts in the public record.
