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Sheriff urges raises, more dispatchers and an office-manager reclassification
Summary
Sheriff Gary Baugh told the board that state-mandated pay changes and understaffed dispatch operations threaten service quality; he asked for the 2% mandated adjustment to be honored, reclassification of the office manager and a part-time animal-control hire to prevent burnout and overtime.
Sheriff Gary Baugh presented his department's budget priorities and staffing concerns, urging the board to support salary adjustments, add dispatcher capacity and reclassify an administrative position to an office manager to reflect increased responsibilities.
"The salary adjustments that you see in the budget ... the 2% salary increase ... is a state-mandated adjustment and not discretionary," Baugh said, explaining the need to comply with state compensation standards and address pay compression.
Baugh described dispatcher staffing as fragile: "We have four full-time dispatchers ... they work 12-hour shifts ... one [day-shift dispatcher] makes about $16 an hour. That's full-time. It's supposed to be a professional job. People's lives in her hands," he said, emphasizing turnover risk when staff can earn comparable wages elsewhere.
He also asked the board to reclassify a longtime administrative employee to office manager, pointing to expanded duties including records management, monthly DCJS reporting, FOIA handling and grant administration; he said that employee has secured more than $2 million in grants for Grayson County since 2015.
Separately, Baugh requested a part-time animal-control position to bridge staffing gaps until October and to avoid diverting sworn deputies from law-enforcement duties.
Following the presentation, board members asked for call-volume graphs and shift-coverage counts included in the meeting packet.
Baugh closed by inviting board members to contact the sheriff's office with questions and to arrange ride-alongs.
