Klamath County board approves patrol hire, pay adjustments and letters of support in administrative meeting

The Klamath County board approved a series of routine personnel and administrative actions during its July 14 administrative meeting, including a hiring request, pay adjustments and letters of support.

A liaison for the sheriff asked the board to approve hiring a recommended candidate for a patrol deputy at step 4; the board approved the request by voice vote. The board also approved a 5% out‑of‑class stipend for an equipment procurement specialist to cover June 16 through July 15, 2026, after Public Works reported the shop manager had left suddenly and a staff member had filled in temporarily.

Separately, the board moved to apply a 2% cost‑of‑living adjustment for nonunion employees tied to a recently ratified union agreement; members discussed whether to adopt the increase across multiple years to ‘‘clean it up’’ and ultimately approved the motion by voice vote.

The board agreed to prepare a letter of support for a project submitted by Casita; the motion passed with assent and one or more abstentions recorded in the discussion.

Several items were approved by voice votes; the transcript does not provide a roll‑call tally for each vote. The motions were presented during the administrative portion of the meeting; staff will implement the pay changes and process the requested hiring and support letters according to county procedure.

What happened next: the board recessed to hold advisory council interviews and scheduled follow‑up sessions for items that required further stakeholder consultation.