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Council Approves Higher Starting Pay for New Deputy Prosecutor Amid Staffing Concerns
Summary
The Vanderburgh County Council voted unanimously to approve a request from the county prosecutor to hire a recommended deputy at a higher step to reflect seven years' experience and to retain capacity for major felony and child-abuse cases; council members debated budget trade-offs and parity before approving the request.
The Vanderburgh County Council voted unanimously to allow the county prosecutor to hire a recommended deputy prosecutor at a higher pay step, after a debate over pay parity and budget trade-offs.
The prosecutor asked the council to start the candidate at "step 3," saying the attorney has seven years of criminal experience and is able to handle major felony matters and child-abuse and neglect cases. The prosecutor said the office could cover the full cost of the higher starting step this year from an existing department account and argued that offering a lower step risked losing an experienced candidate who could immediately handle complicated trials.
Council members pressed for numbers and alternatives. One councilor said step 3 represented roughly an $18,000 increase over step 1 and urged the prosecutor to consider step 2 (about a $12,000 increase) as a compromise; the prosecutor replied that step 2 could be lateral to the candidate's current pay and that parity with existing deputies mattered for morale and retention. The prosecutor also cautioned the council that several deputies are near retirement and that losing experienced trial attorneys would strain the office's ability to try serious cases.
Prosecutor: "I'm asking that she start at step 3 to be in line with her colleagues in the office and to reflect her experience so she can try some of the major felony cases we have and also child abuse and neglect cases...we simply can't do that with the starting salary." (Prosecutor, 00:07:35)
At the end of the discussion the council approved the prosecutor's request. Council members noted the prosecutor said the one-year cost could be covered from the prosecutor's existing account for 2025, and several members urged the office to continue developing pipeline hiring strategies to reduce future staffing shortfalls.
The vote: council recorded a unanimous approval following a roll-call style affirmation (all seven members voting aye).
