Grady County leaders debate sheriff's $5.6 million salary request, matrix raises and vehicle leases

Grady County officials on Aug. 12, 2025, heard Sheriff Boggess defend a budget request that the sheriff said includes about $5.6 million for salaries and would fund a new chief deputy to manage operations and a potential part-time transport deputy replacement. The request prompted questions from county commissioners about pay increases under the sheriff's pay matrix and the department's share of county spending.

Commissioner Ruth Bingham said she had prepared spreadsheets comparing the sheriff's matrix increases and the countywide 2% raise approved for other employees, and said some deputies would receive larger increases than employees in other departments. "I did not realize that his department was not already at the matrix starting amounts," Bingham said, noting her concern that deputies were getting raises ranging, in her spreadsheet, from .1061 percent to 14.25 percent compared with the countywide 2% raise.

Sheriff Boggess told the board the department had not taken the countywide increases in the previous three years because he used a matrix that in earlier years produced larger increases; he said deputies "put their life on the line and they deserved the new increase to their salaries." When Bingham compared road workers' risks, the sheriff replied, "they are not getting shot at."

Commissioner Jerry White said the sheriff's budget had roughly doubled since 2022 and questioned whether the county could sustain that growth. The sheriff cited increased needs for vehicles, vehicle maintenance and personnel and said Grady County had been understaffed for years; he also told the board that FBI crime statistics had declined recently and warned that cutting staff could reverse that trend.

Board members pressed for detail on equipment and lease costs. The sheriff identified about $780,000 in lease expenses tied to Bearcat and Tahoe vehicles and said a $75,000 item was a lease payment for tasers. He said the county had taken possession of six seized vehicles, some used in undercover work. The sheriff reported seven deputies assigned to courthouse duties and one deputy assigned to the district attorney's office, and said the county funds 17 school resource officers whose salaries and benefits are reimbursed by the schools while the county provides vehicles, equipment and uniforms.

Commissioner Bingham noted the sheriff's office accounts for roughly 32% of the county budget and said the State Auditor had warned at ACCO that state and federal funding may decline, underscoring the need to watch expenditures. Jerry White said the county needed to find approximately $3.5 million in cuts from the overall budget and noted available reserve funds could be directed to courthouse renovations.

Sheriff Boggess offered to cut one new patrol position and the part-time transport position if needed. He also said he would like the department to perform its own vehicle maintenance in the future and hire a mechanic to reduce costs.

The special joint meeting was adjourned; minutes record that items were passed and approved on Monday, Aug. 18, 2025.