Study urges 2.4% COLA, recommends pay bump for jail sergeants and asks DA to explain high budget share

Commissioner Stacy summarized a months-long HR study comparing Rockwall County job classifications, pay and turnover to multiple urbanized Texas counties. The committee recommended a 2.4% COLA across the board to keep the county's pay chart aligned with inflation and peer markets; commissioners said a 2.4% across-the-board adjustment would be about $860,000 fully loaded. "Our recommendation is to look at doing a 2.4% COLA across the board," Commissioner Stacy said.

The study flagged two specific anomalies: jail sergeants appear below market and the committee recommended moving the classification from an 8 to an 11 (estimated to cost roughly $86,000—$87,000 total for the unit). The study also identified Rockwall County's district attorney's office as using about 10% of the county budget, compared with roughly 6% in many peer counties; commissioners asked staff to follow up with the DA about staffing, cost-to-case and whether supplements or forfeiture funds affect reported numbers. The court praised HR's analysis and directed staff to incorporate the committee's direction into the budget process and return with specific implementation language and fiscal modeling.