Faulkner County committee forwards sheriff—s IT reclassification ordinance to budget committee

The Faulkner County Personnel Committee voted to forward Proposed Ordinance 25-15 to the county Budget and Finance Committee for consideration. The ordinance would reclassify a sheriff—s office information-technology position and increase its salary to match comparable county IT pay and support 24-hour operations.

The measure, sponsored by Councilor Chris Kendrick, was introduced to committee and discussed by the Faulkner County sheriff, who said the sheriff—s office already has the position but needs a reclassification and pay adjustment to match county IT levels and to meet round-the-clock operational needs and upcoming technology projects. "This is one of the holes we've had that I knew that someday we was gonna have to deal with," the sheriff said, adding the office manages "a couple hundred computers, 16, 18 servers" and will support projects including Southern Software and a Rapid DNA implementation funded by a grant.

The sheriff described the position as potentially requiring after-hours call-outs: "it's a 24 hour position." Committee members discussed salary comparisons in other counties. The committee was told Craighead County lists a similar position at about $61,000 and that in larger Pulaski County, county office IT director positions run about $105,000 and the sheriff's IT position is about $120,000. Committee members noted Faulkner County is the fourth-largest county in Arkansas and the largest of the class 6 counties, creating limits on direct comparators; the reclassification draws from higher-class salary data because many class 6 counties outsource sheriff IT work.

After discussion, a committee member moved to forward the ordinance to Budget and Finance; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote. The committee chair announced, "The ayes have it. We're forwarding proposed ordinance 25 15 to budget and finance." The measure will next be considered by Budget and Finance for potential placement on a future quorum/court agenda.

Questions raised during discussion included whether the proposed salary would disrupt parity across county departments; a committee member said the proposed pay would align the sheriff's IT manager "to what Faulkner County for our county IT" and would not throw other departments out of balance. The committee did not set a dollar figure in committee action; those salary details will be reviewed in Budget and Finance.