Wanda English Burnett, Editor

“We can’t move forward because we’re constantly turning over,” Sheriff Tom Grills shared his frustration at the County Council meeting held Monday night, November 17. He was referring to the council’s decision to only give employees in the sheriff’s department a two-percent pay raise. He noted that there has been a turnover of 65 employees in the jail in the past 11 years. The past year 11 jail employees have come and gone.

Grills said the training hours and money is lost each time an employee walks out because they can’t afford to live on the salary provided by the county. He noted that two clerical workers are now taking care of paperwork for a 100-bed jail. That’s the same amount of employees that used to take care of the paperwork for a 15-bed jail. He noted there are more tax warrants and sheriff sales to be processed than ever before. Adding to the office workload is the fact they have to keep track of 72 sex offenders, along with their other duties.

Sheriff Grills noted that he only had received the information concerning the budget about 11:00 a.m. that same day. He said he thought the budget as presented was okay, because he said council members told him it was. But, he received a surprise when the final draft was in place and the budget was cut.

Fifteen members of the department, including deputies, clerical, and jail personnel, attended the meeting that lasted over three hours. Many of them spoke out about their feelings on the subject of the pay raise.
Sgt. Marvin Smith, a 13-year veteran with the sheriff’s office, said he works two additional jobs to make ends meet. “We don’t have anything lavish,” he told the council, saying his family lives in a 900 sq. ft. home. “We don’t go out to eat.” He said while they were expected to be content with a two-percent pay increase, the insurance had gone to almost ten percent higher. He said the low increase was like “a slap in the face.” He said, “Nobody else goes to work in this county with people hating them, having the chance of dying or catching a disease.” He further cited missed holidays and family gatherings due to the nature of the job.

Sheriff Grills noted that the jail generates a lot of revenue for the county and wondered why that money couldn’t be shared with the very people who generate it.

Lt. Randy Holt, who has also been with the sheriff’s office for a number of years told the council, “The people we deal with are criminals...we’re the ones who separate them from the residents.” He said, “When there’s no one else to take the call, we do.”

Throughout the evening there were several references to the fact the deputies from the sheriff’s office work around the clock, something town agencies are not able to do for the most part. Most small towns have the marshal and maybe one deputy, with perhaps some reserve officers. The sheriff noted that often the state police do not have an officer available. Whatever happens is left up to the sheriff’s office.

Chief Deputy Major David Pippin spoke to the hundreds of hours of training the deputies receive, much on their own time. He said the jail officers have completed training on their own, which “shows their dedication.” The sheriff agreed, saying, “Nowadays people don’t do that, they don’t do things for free.”

Sheriff Grills said it’s hard to retain deputies when the Indiana State Police and City of Batesville start them out at $41,000. That’s $10,000 more than what Ripley County offers their deputies to start.
The sheriff pointed out that there were several issues in the budget that needed to be corrected or “there will be problems in the next year.” He said he couldn’t understand the reason his budget was not approved as presented.

Council President Dephane Smith explained the budget process and admitted it was the council’s “negligence in not getting back with the sheriff sooner about the proposed cuts.”

She agreed the deputies needed to make more money saying there was no doubt their jobs were extremely dangerous and mostly thankless. She said it wasn’t fair to give a two-percent pay raise across the board to county employees because “they aren’t doing the same job.” She thanked those from the sheriff’s office for coming to the meeting, saying, “we appreciate you stating your case.”

Before approving the $6,610,214.00 county general budget for the next year, council members agreed to set a special meeting next Monday, November 24 at 4:30 p.m. to “re-look” the budget for the sheriff’s department concerning salaries.

The sheriff said if the employees are going to generate the money (from the jail) and work for the county, they want to be compensated for it. “It’s all about priority...your safety and security is number one priority,” he stated.

He further noted that he has repeatedly invited the council members to come to the jail, ride with a deputy, and actually see first hand the operation he oversees. “Not one council member has come over to see the operation...I’ve invited all of you.”

Not only employees from the sheriff’s department spoke about the situation, but others in the audience gave their input. Cynthia Melton, Otter Creek township trustee, who was in attendance on another matter, spoke boldly saying, while the sheriff and she did not agree on some things, this is one they did agree on. “We do not pay our sheriff’s department enough money,” she stated. “These people work day and night.” She also included dispatchers in the mix saying they have a difficult job as well.

Kelly Vollet, technology coordinator for the county, said, “I’ll give them my two-percent. I agree with them, they work longer, harder, more difficult hours.”

Commissioner Robert Reiners agreed, saying, “It wouldn’t’ bother me if these people got a bigger raise than I did.”

With the downturn in the economy, the idea of all employees getting more of a pay raise than just two-percent was felt in the room. Clerk Ginger Bradford said she understood all aspects of the situation, speaking out for the employees in her office. She also understands the council’s position of working the numbers on the budget and where would the additional funds come from?

County EMS Director Scott Huffman was in attendance and agreed the sheriff’s officers needed to be compensated. But, he said he felt he would be doing his employees a disservice if he didn’t speak up for them. He noted that he doesn’t have a paramedic that doesn’t work just one job. They all work at least two. They face some of the same hostility as the deputies do. Huffman gave his report saying the paramedics have taken 14,037 dispatches so far this year, with 45% of the runs being in the Rescue 69 area.

Huffman was praised from council member Ed Armbrecht, who said he never asked the council for a dime extra for gas throughout the crunch. “He told his employees to park the vehicles.”

The sheriff provided information to the council to show the number of miles the deputies were driving off duty and noted he didn’t believe they were driving excessive miles.

The meeting was recessed for a week, with the council promising to take another look at the budget to see if they could basically “rob Peter to pay Paul” or in this instance, to pay the sheriff’s employees more. The meeting will reconvene Monday, November 24, at 4:30 p.m. in the commissioners’ room at the courthouse annex in Versailles.