Sedgwick County commissioners have unanimously approved a plan to increase pay for detention deputies and corporals at the county jail.   Sheriff Jeff Easter will use $2.1 million in budget savings to increase starting pay and existing pay.

Easter told commissioners Wednesday that the jail is 98 positions short of the 233 needed for full staffing.  He said commissioned deputies have been working shifts in the jail, and he has also worked shifts along with upper command staff.   He says that leaves a shortage of deputies for patrol and other operations, and it’s a big drain on the Sheriff’s Office as well as a morale issue.    Some inmates have also been placed in other county jails, which is a cost of $35 per inmate per day, but that frees up three deputies to work in other areas of the jail.

Easter said the state corrections department and cities in south central Kansas have increased pay, so the jail has lost staff to other agencies.  He said with unrest from the past year across the country, a number of people that wanted to join law enforcement have decided not to, and there has been a lot of turnover with retirements and other issues.

The increase will take the starting wage from $15.92 per hour to $18.96 per hour.  The sheriff said the increase would help the detention facility in competing with other area agencies.  He said the jail is also looking at placing cameras inside the jail to help with monitoring inmates and there are changes being made to the recruitment process.  He wants to convert a detention deputy position to a retention specialist who would work with new detention deputies for their first year.   He said a new class of 17 deputies will start Monday, and he’s looking to have 15 or 16 deputies every six weeks in the detention academy, which could add 50 to 60 new deputies by July.

Easter said more steps are needed to help reduce the jail population.   He said around 70 percent of inmates in the jail have addiction issues and 30 percent have mental health issues, and the criminal justice system is the most expensive system to put people into.   He says those issues are being addressed in the hopes of reducing the number of inmates, because treatment costs less than incarceration.

Commissioner Jim Howell raised concerns about the impact on future budgets and the effect on other county employees who have not received raises this year.  He wanted to delay action to get more information, but his motion did not get a second.  Howell said he would reluctantly vote for the budget authority for the sheriff, but he feels this could be damaging the county organization in the long term.