Carlisle County to pay departing deputy’s accrued comp time; board discusses contract language to deter recruitment

Commissioners debated whether to pay out accrued comp time and related leave for a deputy identified in the transcript as Austin and ultimately decided to pay him out while discussing contract changes to reduce future exposure.

The discussion began when the chair said Austin had asked to be paid 124 hours of comp time; agency staff and counsel explained the county’s contract and applicable statute, noting that earned comp time must be paid out when employment ends. One official summarized the legal position: “The statute just says, if you earned it, you get paid out for that time.”

Why it matters: the payout will be an unbudgeted expense and commissioners discussed ways to change hiring and contract language to discourage outside agencies from recruiting county-trained staff without compensating the county. Options discussed included a clause requiring reimbursement by the hiring agency, a flat fee for early departure or forfeiture provisions tied to notice requirements.

Details and amounts: transcript references to payments and checks included figures of $3,300 and $3,338 for immediate checks, and a stated total county cost described in the meeting as about $5,000. Commissioners acknowledged the payout was not previously budgeted and said staff would rewrite checks so audit dates matched.

What the board decided: commissioners agreed to pay Austin out now. Staff and counsel were directed to draft contract language options for future hires, including potential reimbursement clauses or changes to comp-time accrual/payout timing, and to present those options for formal consideration.