Council approves increased pay for court home verification officers and several personnel fills

The Vanderburgh County Council approved multiple personnel requests after discussion about rates and grant funding.

A request from the circuit court sought to increase pay for part-time home verification officers working for the Vanderburgh County Veterans Court to $60 per hour, to be paid from the problem-solving grant fund. The presenting judge told the council the increase was based on local comparables and a need to retain officers who conduct off-duty home visits. The judge said officers use sheriff-provided vehicles while performing visits in their off-duty time. The council discussed how deputies' overtime and off-duty rates compare and confirmed the positions are part-time and receive no county benefits under the requested pay changes.

Council members moved and approved a bundled motion that covered personnel requests across multiple departments, including: auditor (fill two real-estate clerk vacancies), sheriff (vacancies), veteran services, weights and measures, and two prosecutor positions. The motion to approve the list of personnel requests passed without recorded opposition.

Council members asked for clarity about the pay bands in some requests and confirmed the home verification increase would be covered by the existing problem-solving grant fund. Supporters said the officers have longstanding relationships with court participants and that retention supports problem-solving court outcomes; one council member called them “the backbone of our problem solving.”

Specifics recorded in the meeting: the home verification request sought to raise the officer pay from $44 (base referenced in paperwork) to $60 per hour for the veterans court position; the county said it expected to cover the increase from the problem-solving grant fund. The council approved the bundled personnel motions by voice vote.