Prosecutor requests staggered pay raises, questions wage-study benchmarks

Beth Schrader, Du Bois County prosecutor, asked the county council to adjust the wage study recommendations for her office to keep pay competitive and to stagger attorney salaries by experience level.

"Ithink the employees and myself as well all appreciate your attempt to improve our pay scale," Schrader said, explaining she used the 2026 midpoint and added 3.5% when the council did not provide the 2027 court-reporter benchmark. She told the council her office had difficulty recruiting qualified attorneys at current pay levels and that treating junior and senior attorneys identically had forced her to offer top-of-range wages to new hires.

Schrader also asked that the investigator and victim-advocate positions receive larger raises than the draft recommendation, and she explained how the victim-advocate position had shifted from 80% grant funding to roughly 75% grant and 25% pretrial-diversion support depending on final rates. She handed the council a spreadsheet comparing the office's requested rates with the study's recommendations and cited an Indiana Prosecuting Attorney's Council report showing higher median prosecutor salaries in the region, which she said raised concerns about consistency across reports.

Council members asked technical questions about which funds would pick up increases, how the forfeiture fund is used, and whether some positions are state- or grant-funded. Schrader said the prosecutor's forfeiture fund (used for training and equipment) carries a limited annual budget she proposes to maintain; she recommended the council take her requests under advisement and return with follow-up questions.

The council did not take formal action at the session; members said they would review the handout and continue the budget discussion at a later meeting.