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County attorney: pay competition is costing Davis County key staff; urges COLA, merit and top‑of‑range hires
Summary
At an Oct. 3 budget presentation, the Davis County Attorney's Office said it is losing preferred candidates to higher pay in Salt Lake County, the attorney general's office and private practice and urged commissioners to preserve COLA and merit funding and allow hires at the top of salary ranges to retain staff.
Troy, presenting for the Davis County Attorney's Office, told the county budget committee on Oct. 3 that the office is not requesting additional full‑time or part‑time positions for 2025 but warned recruiters are repeatedly losing top choices because the county cannot match market pay.
"We're getting killed," Troy said, describing multiple recent candidates who declined offers once salary became part of negotiations. He said three civil division attorney candidates turned down offers in the last 18 months and that an open civil‑division attorney position has remained unfilled for roughly 18 months.
Troy and staff shared a GRAMA‑sourced comparison of prosecution budgets per capita across Utah counties. He said Salt Lake County spent $43.89 per capita on prosecution in 2024, while Davis County was at $21.65 per capita. Troy argued Salt Lake County and the Attorney General's Office are the chief competitors for new attorneys and that pay at those offices — he cited entry salaries of roughly $112,000–$113,000 — makes recruitment difficult.
The presenter described workload metrics to underscore the risk: CJC prosecutors handle roughly 383–400 cases per prosecutor per year, and Davis County currently has about 20 prosecutors. He also emphasized that the office’s average attorney experience level is high (he cited an internal figure near 17 years), which helps manage caseloads but would be vulnerable if experienced staff leave.
While the office is not asking for new staff in 2025, Troy asked the commission to preserve an aggressive cost‑of‑living adjustment (COLA) and a 3.5% merit pool and signaled the department will seek authority to hire new entrants at the top of salary grades to be competitive. "If we move forward into 2025 ... those new people are gonna be paid a lot more than you were paid," he said, acknowledging that strategy will create pay compression and require transparent communication with current staff.
Troy also noted technology and workplace issues that reduce productivity and flagged a pending temporary‑space issue related to state courthouse construction that could displace county offices in coming years. He closed by thanking commissioners for prior retention efforts and asking them to prioritize staff retention in upcoming budget decisions.
Next steps: the attorney's presentation will proceed through the budget committee's review process; commissioners indicated they will take the department's consent and continue deliberations on COLA/merit and grade adjustments.
