Vanderburgh County council approves a string of personnel moves, backs prosecutor pay step and tables $50,000 Junior Achievement request

Vanderburgh County council and commissioners approved several personnel requests, budget transfers and appropriation items during their regular meeting, and voted to table a $50,000 request from Junior Achievement while officials and some council members questioned using unrestricted opioid funds for the grant.

The council unanimously approved a motion to allow the prosecutor’s office to hire a recommended deputy prosecutor and start the new hire at a higher pay step than entry level. The prosecutor told the council the candidate has seven years’ experience, including work at the Department of Child Services and trial experience, and that the office is facing a wave of retirements that would leave it short on trial-ready attorneys. “I’m actually, you know, pretty concerned with the fact that we have a large part of our staff that’s set to retire, in the next few years,” the prosecutor said during discussion.

The prosecutor asked the council to start the candidate at step 3 (instead of step 1). Council members debated stepping the hire to step 2 as a cost compromise; the prosecutor and several commissioners argued parity with existing staff and the immediate need to try complex child-abuse and felony cases made a higher step necessary. The motion to approve the request as presented carried on voice vote.

County officials also approved multiple routine personnel requests for county departments by voice vote, including personnel…