President Judge Talley presented a multi-part personnel request seeking to correct pay‑scale placement and advance pay steps for several court classifications. He said many employees were left on a court professionals pay scale after a bargaining unit disbanded in 2019 and should have been placed on the career services pay scale beginning with the first pay period of January 2020. The request includes both retroactive reclassifications and competitive step increases.

The classes and proposed changes cited by the judge included: 11 conference officer I positions (move from GR22 to GR23), nine juvenile probation officer I positions, 12 adult probation officer I positions, three DUI probation officers, and an increase in step for judicial law clerks to step 3C. Additional career service positions were listed for grade changes, including deputy director of domestic relations, deputy chief of juvenile probation, juvenile probation supervisor, deputy chief of adult probation, court fiscal administrator, adult probation supervisor, executive secretary of court administration, custody master, and lead judicial secretary. The judge said the total recurring cost of these moves is $473,942 and that the proposed 2026 budget includes mitigation through vacant and retired positions with projected savings of $640,000.

Council members asked about benefit and pension impacts. Staff and the judge said benefits are generally a flat amount per employee and that employees' pension/payroll deductions tied to higher earnings would be affected by increased salaries (employees pay more into health insurance/pension where applicable), but management's position was that the county's employer benefit contributions would not rise in direct proportion. Members also pressed on timing: the requested effective dates include a limited remaining portion of the current year (six weeks) and full implementation in the next budget year. The judge stated the item was presented now because it had been omitted from the budget booklet and staff advised advancing it through the committee process.

After questions and clarifications, council moved the personnel request forward for subsequent action. The transcript did not show a roll-call vote or final adoption during this session.