Court approves $19,434 in retroactive step raises for county employees; $4,199.67 allocated to prosecutor’s office

The Washington County Quorum Court approved an ordinance authorizing $19,434.04 in retroactive step-plan compensation for certain county employees and appropriated $4,199.67 of that amount to the prosecuting attorney’s budget to cover taxes and retirement contributions.

Justice Coger explained the measure, saying the step raises were not new raises but what eligible employees would have received beginning in 2025; a coding omission left a small group (including public defenders and a prosecutor) without the step increases. "This ordinance simply — it's not a new raise. It's what they would have received in 2025 and it's retroactive to then," Coger said. Several justices voiced support for county employees and urged better budget timing and HR coding to avoid similar situations in future years.

Justice Seki encouraged the court to pass budgets earlier to prevent such coding errors. Justice Rio Stafford noted that prosecutors and public defenders had worked through a heavy caseload and earned retention incentives. With no public comment on the item, the court took a roll-call vote and passed the ordinance.

The ordinance instructs the county to make the retroactive payments and reimburses the prosecutor’s budget for associated payroll taxes and retirement contributions. The county did not attach further policy changes during the meeting.

Clerk recorded the roll call and announced the ordinance passed.