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Commission approves sheriff's salary resolution amid calls for formal HR oversight
Summary
After staff review showed procedural irregularities in past pay changes, the commission approved a sheriff salary resolution and discussed hiring county HR support to avoid future miscues.
The Yankton County Commission voted March 17 to adopt a resolution setting the sheriff's salary as presented following a staff review that highlighted previous administrative irregularities and a potential open‑meetings issue in earlier compensation adjustments.
One commissioner detailed historic increases and said the last properly commission‑approved salary would have produced a lower current figure after a 3% cost‑of‑living adjustment. The commission debated whether an additional human‑resources function was needed to prevent ad hoc or undocumented pay steps in the future.
The state's attorney told the board that the sheriff did not act improperly and that the situation grew out of county procedural failures rather than misconduct. "The sheriff did nothing wrong. He was doing status quo... but the county did not follow statute," the state's attorney said on the record.
After discussion and substitute motions, the board approved the resolution setting the sheriff's salary by voice vote (three yes, two no on the recorded voice roll), and several commissioners asked staff to develop an HR assistant/administrator proposal for a future agenda.
What happens next: staff will update personnel records to reflect the resolution and bring a proposal for an assistant HR position for commissioner input at the next meeting.
