By Velda Hunter
The Facts
Published April 12, 2006
ANGLETON -- Growing overtime pay is leaving Brazoria County officials pondering what can be done to remedy the problem, specifically a shortage of jailers.
The issue was discussed Tuesday when commissioners approved overtime reports for the first three months of the year. County employees worked about 2,530 hours of overtime costing about $59,520 in January. Those figures jumped to about 2,740 hours costing about $65,340 in March.
Although several departments' employees including those in the county clerk's office who worked during the March 7 primary elections had some overtime, totals for the detention center outpaced others, making up 65 percent, or about $42,880, of March's overtime total.
"It's simply exacerbating, getting worse and worse and worse," County Judge John Willy said, adding something has to be done.
Since October, the county has spent about $383,000 overall on overtime pay, County Auditor Connie Garner said Tuesday afternoon. Some overtime is built into the budget, she said.
About halfway through the current budget year, the detention center is about 4 percent over budget, Garner said, noting some positions aren't filled.
The situation is being monitored and managed, she said. How the budget year ends will depend on the new overtime policy started this month at the jail, and whether other expenses come in less than budgeted.
Given a shortage of about 12 jailers and a state-required officer-to-inmate ratio of 1 to 48, Sheriff Charles Wagner said the only way the department can operate is with overtime, considering it is losing employees to higher-paying police departments in the region.
It would take 30 to 40 positions to do away with overtime because it takes 4.22 people to staff each position 24 hours a day, Wagner said.
Earlier this month, the department started a mandatory overtime policy to spread the increased workload throughout the department instead of relying on a select group who volunteered for the extra work. The move came after the Texas Commission on Jail Standards noted non-compliance.
Some members of the jail staff were working more hours than Wagner believed was healthy. The overtime report presented to commissioners showed overtime hours in the detention center ranged from two to 140 from Feb. 18 to March 17.
"Maybe we should get out of the detention business," Willy said.
Privatizing the jail is something Wagner said he has to look into, considering only two of 254 counties in Texas have that setup, he said.
"Anything that happened in that jail would fall on me," Wagner said after the meeting.
Pct. 1 Commissioner Donald "Dude" Payne wanted to know whether any recruitment of new jailers had been done.
Wagner said there have been efforts made, later adding the county's human resources department sends out notices and the sheriff's department contacts law enforcement agencies looking for new hires. But it's difficult getting people to work as jailers at an annual starting salary of about $24,000, he said.
"I know Harris County upped their beginning salaries," Wagner said after the meeting. But they still are losing people to Houston Police Department, and "we're losing to everybody," he said.
"There's no way we can keep chasing that whirlwind," Willy said, referring to higher-paying agencies.
Earlier during the meeting, commissioners agreed to pay the clothing allowance for sheriff's office investigators from budget funds. Commissioner Jack Harris voted against the measure. Willy later said there weren't sufficient funds in the budget.
Wagner described the working conditions for jailers as "good" in a climate-controlled atmosphere. But many people who enter law enforcement want to be police officers, he said.
"You don't see any TV shows about jailers," Wagner said.
However, they are some of the most important people in law enforcement, he said. They make sure people jailed and convicted on charges ranging from misdemeanors to felonies are safe and secure, so residents are safe and secure outside, Wagner said.
In other business, commissioners:
Approved: A resolution honoring former Commissioner John Gayle, who died April 3. Gayle served as a commissioner for 24 years.
Awarded: A contract, not to exceed $60,000, to Texas Bus Sales of Houston via an agreement with Colorado Valley Transit for a transit bus for the Community Development department.
Pct. 3 Commissioner Jack Harris said the bus will be used to transport senior citizens as part of an agreement with Alvin, which will take care of items such as bus maintenance and insurance.
Selected: P3 Power Pool as the new retail electrical service provider when the current contract with the Houston-Galveston Area Council expires May 31.
Approved: An order to execute an agreement with the Galveston County Consolidated Drainage District to improve CR 129 from Highway 35 to the county line. The project was budgeted in the 2006 Road Plan for Brazoria County.
Agreed: To pay $5,749 to Crain, Caton & James for consulting services concerning the Pearland/Manvel landfill; and agreed to loan surplus radios, purchased with Homeland Security Grant funds, to some law enforcement agencies in the county.
Velda Hunter is the senior reporter for The Facts. Contact her at (979) 849-8581.
Copyright © 2006 The Facts
