ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, February 12, 1996 TAG: 9602120001
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
A RAISE IS NICE for the people in charge. But they say their staff on the front lines should be getting one just as good as theirs.
Two Western Virginia sheriffs say Gov. George Allen's proposal to increase their salaries by as much as 40 percent by 1997 deserves a thumbs-down from legislators.
Pulaski County Sheriff Ralph Dobbins and Franklin County Sheriff W.Q. "Quint" Overton say the proposed increases are a slap in the face to deputies, whose pay was frozen for years and who last December received 4.55 percent raises.
"Every deputy sheriff that wears a uniform should be insulted by that bill," Dobbins said. "I called my representatives ... and told them that I did not support it. ... It's going to take money out of my pocket, but I'm against it. I knew what my salary was going to be when I ran."
The proposal is designed to bring sheriffs' salaries more in line with those of circuit court clerks, and to recognize the office's increasing responsibilities.
Circuit court clerks are paid from $49,942 to $92,755. Virginia sheriffs get $37,984 to $86,679. Sheriffs are elected to four-year terms. Clerks serve eight-year terms.
Sheriffs run jails, provide courtroom security and serve civil papers and warrants. In Virginia, 87 of 125 sheriffs provide primary law enforcement in their counties, too. (Law enforcement in cities and towns is handled by police departments. Roanoke County is one of the few counties in the state in which law enforcement is handled by a police department instead of the sheriff's office.)
Sheriffs' pay is based on the population of their localities and their duties. The proposed raises differentiate between sheriffs who provide law enforcement and jail services, those who provide one or the other, and those who provide neither.
Dobbins, who makes $52,594, agrees sheriffs' salaries should be comparable to circuit court clerks', but he said he can't support the raise for sheriffs when deputies need the money more.
"I would rather him give me $16,000 and let me give 16 deputies $1,000," the Pulaski County sheriff said.
Dobbins said sheriffs who support the raises likely include those near retirement who would benefit by having a higher salary on which to base their retirement pay. If he were in their shoes, he said, he might feel the same way. But he thinks the raises would hurt morale.
"Not to be critical, [but] all the sheriffs throughout the state that are supporting this thing ... how in the world do they look their [deputies] in the face?"
Sheriff Overton says he, too, would prefer that the money go to deputies instead of sheriffs.
"I'm making a good salary, I can do without the raise," he said. "But you've got deputies here who have been here for 13 or 14 years and haven't reached the top pay levels."
Overton, who earns $55,514, said his deputies' morale would be lowered if the state approves the raises.
Last year, the Franklin County Board of Supervisors - upon a request from Overton - revised the county's pay scale to include the sheriff's office.
One of the reasons the sheriff made the request was because of declining morale - which he blamed on the state's failure to give raises to deputies, investigators and support personnel.
Employees of the Sheriff's Office - excluding Overton, who remains under the state system - now get raises based on years of experience and qualifications such as training and education.
The county - which already provided a small local supplement to certain sheriff's office employees - takes the State Compensation Board's lump sum allotment for the sheriff's office and doles it out across its own pay scale, rather than using the state's.
Overton called state Sen. Virgil Goode, D-Rocky Mount, and voiced his objections to the governor's proposal. As of last week, Goode had not determined his position on the matter, Overton said.
Under Allen's proposal, sheriffs who don't have jail or law enforcement responsibilities also would get substantial raises.
For example, both Radford and Giles County have populations of just over 16,000. In Giles County, the sheriff oversees both law enforcement and a jail. In Radford, city police handle law enforcement. But under the proposal, both sheriffs are targeted for raises of more than $16,000 by December 1997.
Radford Sheriff Bobby Farmer agrees that deputies need bigger raises, but he's also in favor of a raise for sheriffs.
Farmer has been sheriff almost 20 years; longevity, he thinks, should be considered in raises.
"I'm in favor of it because I'm lower [on the pay scale] than some of these county sheriffs. But the deputies need it, too - a substantial one," Farmer said.
Farmer and Giles County Sheriff Larry Falls both spoke of the years that deputy salaries were frozen during Gov. Douglas Wilder's administration.
"I would certainly like to have the raise, but I wouldn't like to have something and my people have nothing," Falls said.
Like Overton, Falls doesn't think it's fair that experienced deputies are still making the same as new hires. "That set-up is completely wrong," he said.
John Jones, executive director of the Virginia Sheriffs Association, said he doesn't think the General Assembly will approve Allen's proposal.
"From what I've heard, it's not all going to be there in the end. ... It's too much at one bite."
While sheriffs believe they do deserve salaries comparable to circuit court clerks, Jones said the association's No. 1 priority has been pay increases for deputies and support staff such as dispatchers and cooks.
"But I don't want to say we wouldn't take the money," Jones said.
Jones said morale problems are evident because deputies with as much as five years' experience find themselves making the same as new hires, unless local governments supplement their salaries.
Jones said representatives of the sheriffs' association met earlier with Allen administration officials and mentioned that sheriffs deserved higher salaries. But he said, that was only after putting the needs of deputies and support staff first.
"We did ask for a raise. He [Allen] put that in and we appreciate it," Jones said.
Still, he said, "our legislative package doesn't mention sheriffs' salaries," Jones said.
Jones said Del. Jackie Stump, D-Buchanan County, has offered an amendment to the bill at the request of the sheriffs' group. That amendment would provide for increases in deputies' and support staffs' salaries based on performance.
"We asked for this the first week," Jones said. "We're pushing for the deputies' raise as a priority and hope that we get something for everyone."
The governor's proposed budget is in the hands of the Senate Appropriations Committee and the House Finance Committee. Del. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, said that once subcommittees decide on amendments, legislators review the budget and it comes to the General Assembly floor for a vote. The committees are supposed to finish their work by next Sunday and voting is scheduled for Feb. 22.
Griffith said sheriffs he's heard from echo Overton's and Dobbins' comments.
While sheriffs deserve a raise "because they do so much work," Griffith said they've told him they "felt like their deputies need increases, too. ... It's really a shame we don't pay them more."
Staff writer Todd Jackson contributed to this story.
LENGTH: Long : 135 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: Proposed Sheriff's salary increases.by CNB