Freestone County reallocates SB 22 grant funds to raise deputies' starting pay

Freestone County Commissioners Court voted to allow the sheriff to use SB 22 grant funds to provide a supplement that raises deputies' starting base pay to $62,000.

Speaker 4 told the court the auditor had clarified numbers and that the SB 22 account had shown an overage of about $172,771 at the time of the earlier review; Speaker 4 described a proposal discussed with deputies to avoid cutting staff by instead reallocating SB 22 funds to raise starting pay. "I've talked to my guys because I thought it was important to discuss this with them," Speaker 4 said. "They don't really wanna lose 2 positions either and we feel we can fill them pretty quick once we can get the pay that everybody else has got around us." Speaker 4 summarized the court's proposal as asking the court to "approve to use that $350,000 SB 22 grant for 1 deputy, 1 jailer, and his guard base pay is 62,000."

Under the approved plan, the court agreed to remove two deputy positions from SB 22 funding and use the grant to provide supplements that raise pay to a $62,000 starting base for deputies; the transcript records the motion, a second, and Speaker 1 calling "All in favor, aye," after which the motion was announced carried. Speaker 4 estimated the reallocation would leave approximately $2,469.96 in the account for the current year and noted a buffer for next year depended on hiring and vacancy patterns. The transcript does not show a named roll-call of votes.