PINE BLUFF -- The Jefferson County Quorum Court's Public Safety Committee voted to table a proposal Monday night that provides raises for jailers at the Jefferson County jail and would add 12 more guards at the facility.
Justice of the Peace Conley F. Byrd Jr. made the motion to table the issue after saying he had not had enough time to review it.
"I'd like to look at this a little closer, and I am sure we will have questions regarding the numbers," Byrd said. "So I think it's best we take our time."
Justice of the Peace Ted Harden, who chairs the committee, said he would set a date later this week for his committee to reconvene on the matter.
Jefferson County Sheriff Gerald Robinson requested the raises in the wake of a recent riot involving 80 inmates at the 327-capacity jail. Officials said the uprising, which caused about $20,000 in damages, likely occurred because inmates know the lockup is understaffed.
According to Robinson's proposal, money for raises and hiring additional employees will come from an existing 0.25 percent sales tax that funds operations at the jail. The tax generates between $2.1 million and $2.2 million each year, according to county financial data.
The proposal calls for an increase of $4,000 to jailers' salaries across the board. Starting salary for jailers is currently $10.53 per hour. After a year, pay increases to $11.41 per hour. In the second year, a jailer's salary rises to $11.96 an hour. If a jailer stays at the facility for five years, they are paid a maximum of $12.51 per hour.
The jail is struggling with a high employee turnover rate attributed to low pay, Jefferson County jail Administrator Greg Bolin said. The jail has 36 slots for jailers but currently has just 31. The jail averages between 330 and 350 inmates at any given time.
According to human resources data, in 2014, there were 30 employees hired as jailers and 27 who quit. In 2013, 33 were hired and 18 quit.
The cost to hire and train jailers is just over $4,000, and the turnover rate has left the jail with significant financial losses in the past few years.
The county has lost more than $255,000 in training costs since 2013 due to the high turnover rate, according to the sheriff's office. Bolin said many of his jailers leave to work at the Arkansas Department of Correction, which offers a starting salary of $27,000, because of the higher pay. Pulaski County pays a starting salary of $31,149 to its jailers.
Jefferson County leaders recently had to ask elected officials to shuffle their budgets to contribute money to the county general fund because it was nearly depleted. That fund pays a majority of the county's workers, but not jail employees.
County officials have said layoffs -- which wouldn't affect the jail -- will likely be needed in the near future to prevent the full depletion of the county general fund.
A decades-long decline in Jefferson County's population has resulted in less tax money for the county, which has contributed to the financial woes. Additionally, spending has outpaced revenue over the past few years, as well.
But money that funds the jail has actually increased because it is separate from other county operations, county officials said.
State Desk on 08/11/2015