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Court hears proposal to study hazardous-duty pay for deputies as payroll drops after loss of SRO contract
Summary
An unidentified county official asked the court to study hazardous-duty pay for deputies, citing safety concerns and retention challenges, and said the county payroll is roughly $120,000 lower this year after the school resource officer contract ended.
An unidentified official urged the Estill County Fiscal Court to study whether hazardous-duty pay should apply to county deputies, citing rising mandates, retention challenges and a recent line-of-duty death in a neighboring county.
The speaker said deputies now perform duties that may expose them to risk and that local agencies have seen turnover when neighboring counties offer better benefits. The speaker recounted a recent eviction where deputies wore body armor and described the broadening scope of deputy responsibilities.
The speaker told the court budget totals for the sheriff's office are ‘‘about a hundred and 20,000 less this year than it was last year,’’ attributing part of the reduction to the loss of the School Resource Officer (SRO) contract. The presenter said they want the court to spend the next six months examining whether hazardous-duty or other retention pay is feasible given fiscal constraints.
Court members acknowledged the request; no formal motion to change pay or to allocate funds for hazardous-duty pay was made during this meeting. The discussion was presented as a proposal to study options and report back to the court.
Ending: The court took the request under advisement; the item will require budget analysis and any future action would need a formal motion and recorded vote.
