Commission discusses tying prosecutor, sheriff pay to judicial pay scales as state bill advances

Clay County commissioners spent substantial time discussing how a revised county constitution should handle elected officials' salaries after members said a pending state bill would set the prosecutor's pay equal to a circuit judge’s salary. Commissioners debated whether to make the sheriff and prosecutor equal, tie both to the circuit-judge schedule, or use a split (prosecutor = circuit judge; sheriff = associate circuit judge).

Staff and several commissioners said the governor had not yet signed the bill but that it was likely to pass. One participant summarized the implication plainly: if the bill is signed, "the prosecutor's salary shall be tied to a circuit judge." Commissioners therefore discussed delaying final drafting on the prosecutor's pay until the statute’s fate was certain while setting a clear approach for the sheriff’s starting pay.

Arguments in favor of tying pay to judicial schedules emphasized administrative simplicity and protection from short-term political shifts. Supporters noted the prosecutor requires a law degree and that judicial pay schedules are updated regularly; they worried that leaving salaries solely to the commission could create politicized or uneven increases. Those favoring differentiation proposed setting the sheriff at 100% of the associate circuit-judge salary (an approach that commissioners estimated would place the sheriff above several nearby police chiefs and make Clay County one of the higher-paid sheriff positions in the state), with the prosecutor at circuit-judge level if the statute is enacted.

Opponents cautioned that tying pay in the constitution reduces local control and that a constitutionally rigid scheme could be hard to administer if future needs or qualifications change. Commissioners discussed alternatives such as allowing the commission to authorize increases by separate action or adopting a baseline linkage while preserving commission discretion for future adjustments.

No final, legally binding change was adopted at this meeting; commissioners reported a rough consensus (several said six-to-one) in favor of the associate/circuit split (sheriff = associate circuit judge; prosecutor = circuit judge) but directed staff to hold final language until statutory developments are clearer and to return draft ballot wording at the next meeting.

The item will return for final drafting and a vote on ballot language at the scheduled follow-up meeting.