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Davis County attorney urges immediate pay adjustment for specialized investigators amid retention risk
Summary
County Attorney Troy Rawlings told commissioners investigators in his office are paid about 82% of market and two grades below comparable sheriff's positions, and urged a small market adjustment now to retain specialized staff; commissioners were split because of a pending 2026 tentative budget and a $7 million general-fund shortfall.
County Attorney Troy Rawlings told the Davis County Commission at a Nov. 4 work session that the office’s investigative division is falling behind market pay and risks losing highly trained staff to private firms and other agencies.
Rawlings said Human Resources informed him investigators are paid roughly 82% of market and are two pay grades below comparable Davis County Sheriff’s Office positions. He described recent high-risk work by bureau chief Craig Webb’s team — including overnight surveillance for threats to the Justice Complex and Internet Crimes Against Children task-force operations — to explain why the positions require specialized skills and why retention matters for public safety.
“Three of them went and took a weekend recently … and got paid a crap load of money” by a private security company, Rawlings said, arguing that the department’s training and in-house forensic capability make those investigators difficult to replace and that losing them would slow investigations and prosecutions.
HR representative Marina Burrito confirmed the office previously increased investigator pay two years ago and explained the county’s reclassification policy: benchmark adjustments are typically implemented as a roughly 3% increase on top of any cost-of-living adjustment. Burrito estimated that a 3% benchmark adjustment for the affected group would cost about $15,000 in 2026 and that five investigators would be covered by the change.
Controller Scott Park said the 2026 tentative budget includes some contingency funds for market adjustments and HR contingencies but warned the county faces a roughly $7,000,000 general-fund shortfall that constrains larger or immediate increases. “There is some money set aside in the 2026 tentative budget,” Park said, but he cautioned against granting increases that would later force layoffs or deeper cuts.
Commissioners were divided. Several, including Commissioner Tom Krausz, said the investigative team is the “pointy end of the stick” for protecting children and families and favored addressing pay now to avoid higher long-term social costs. Others, including Commissioner Bob Stevens, said the commission should complete current budget and tax deliberations before making additions to recurring personnel costs because voters are sensitive to tax increases and the tentative budget is still being finalized.
No formal motion or vote was recorded at the session. The chair closed the work session with direction for staff to supply further data and for commissioners to weigh whether to proceed immediately or defer action until the 2026 budget is finalized.
What’s next: Staff will provide more detailed cost and market information and commissioners may revisit the matter during budget hearings. The session adjourned at 09:29 without a final decision.
