Shelby County commission defers vote on corrections pay-parity ordinance pending fiscal note

An ordinance to amend Shelby County Code to establish pay parity for Shelby County Division of Corrections (SCDC) correctional officers with Shelby County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) corrections deputies was deferred for further budget analysis. Commissioner Erica Sugarman sponsored the ordinance, presented in third reading during the law enforcement committee.

Human Resources Director Gerald Thornton told commissioners he and his team had not been asked for a fiscal note and urged a deferral so the county could quantify the ordinance’s impact on the 2026 budget. Audrey Tipton, Director of Administration and Finance, told the committee she was preparing the FY 2026 budget and likewise requested more time to identify a funding source. Thornton and Tipton said a 2022 resolution that previously established similar pay changes included a fiscal note then, but the current draft before the committee did not carry one.

Commissioner Sugarman and other supporters said the measure largely codifies a previously passed resolution intended to equalize pay because the sheriff’s office had issued increases in recent years. Commissioners agreed to defer the item so county staff could attach a fiscal note and align timing with presentation of the mayor’s proposed budget. The item was rescheduled for the April 30 committee meeting, and commissioners requested that finance provide the requested fiscal estimate before that date.

Why it matters: The ordinance would formalize salary parity between two large county public-safety employee groups. That creates a direct budgetary implication for a 2026 budget already in preparation and requires a transparent fiscal estimate for the commission to evaluate tradeoffs.

What’s next: The committee deferred action to the April 30 meeting so the administration can include a fiscal note and for the county’s compensation study to be considered in tandem.