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Vanderburgh sheriff consolidates operations lobby, trims one full-time post and raises part-time school-deputy pay
Summary
Sheriff Noah Robinson told the county council consolidation of the operations center lobby into the jail lobby will allow one full-time operations clerk to be eliminated and replaced with two part-time clerks, saving about $43,000 annually; the council separately approved raising the pay of part-time special deputies to match higher steps to support a school safety agreement.
Sheriff Noah Robinson told the Vanderburgh County Council that consolidating two public lobbies — the Operations Center lobby and the jail lobby — into a single public entry will reduce redundant workload and justify eliminating one full-time operations center clerk.
Robinson said the department consolidated services earlier this year, closing the Operations Center lobby to the public and moving customer service functions to the jail. He said the change would eliminate one full-time position, replace its duties with two part-time clerks assigned to headquarters and the operations center, and produce personnel efficiencies.
"The total for the operations clerk with overtime, FICA, PERF, and insurance is around 101,000 a year," Robinson said. Two part-time clerks working the maximum hours come in at about $57,000 annually, "a difference of $43,000. There's your savings," he said.
Council members asked how duties would be divided. Robinson said one part-time clerk would handle data entry and tasks previously done at the operations center while the other would assist the HR function at headquarters. When asked what happened to the displaced full-time employee, Robinson said the position was "attritioned off" — the person retired and was not replaced.
Separately, the council approved a sheriff's request to increase the hourly rate for part-time special deputies who support a Vanderburgh County school safety agreement. Robinson said he currently employed one such deputy and would like three; to remain competitive with local police departments and hospital police, he asked to move that position from step 4 to step 6 on the pay scale so the hourly rate more closely mirrors experienced full-time deputies. He emphasized the funding for that increase would come from the agreement with parochial schools rather than the sheriff's general budget.
Council members pressed for details on hours and benefits; Robinson confirmed part-time special deputies currently work up to 29 hours and receive no benefits. After discussion the council unanimously approved both the consolidation personnel request and the special-deputy pay adjustment by voice votes.
The approvals were procedural motions during the personnel portion of the meeting; no roll-call tallies were recorded in the public meeting transcript. The sheriff said he later plans to seek council approval to reclassify some booking clerk positions using realized savings.
What happens next: the personnel changes are authorized by council motion and will be implemented by the sheriff's office; Robinson said future requests may come to reclassify positions as hiring and workload evolve.
