District Attorney John Kimbrough said county commissioners were “unfair and not rational” when they decided to cut the salary of the only investigator in his office.
Kimbrough and District Clerk Vicky Edgerly complained about cutting pay for their employees without notice.
Commissioners Court held the first workshop for the 2016-17 budget. Last week, commissioners changed classified grades for the district attorney’s investigator and the top spots in the district clerk’s office. The reclassifications will exempt the employees from overtime pay and cost some individuals about $10,000 a year.
Kimbrough said the change was a surprise and he was not notified about it. A couple of years ago, Kimbrough’s office eliminated one of the two investigator positions. The salary for the one investigator was increased to meet “the duties and responsibilities” of the job, Kimbrough said. The rest of the other salary is money that the county saves every year, he said.
“I had no advance warning they (commissioners) were considering” the pay cut, he said. Commissioners did not ask the sheriff, police chiefs, judges or him about cutting pay for the investigator. “It would have been nice if they had asked me,” he said.
Kimbrough is also looking for a pay raise for the attorneys in his office. He said Jefferson and Hardin counties pay prosecutors more and Orange County has attorneys leaving after they are trained here.
Once again, Commissioners Court is trying to get everyone to slash requests. This is the second year County Judge Brint Carlton has overseen the budget process. The new budget year starts October 1.
Sheriff Keith Merritt talked about bookkeeping with the medical expenses for jail inmates. He said his budget always has $34,200 in the budget for the inmate medical category even though the amount is greater. He thought the county’s indigent care system paid for it, but that department does not. The county auditor was not at the workshop.
Merritt said inmate medical expenses are running $169,000 to $179,000 during the current year. The county is required by law to pay for the expenses. During the current budget year those expenses have included open heart surgery and dialysis.
The sheriff told commissioners his office works with judges and cities to try to get prisoners with health problems released on bond so the county does not have to pay medical costs. However, some of the expensive medical procedures were used for inmates with revoked state parole or have been convicted of a crime and are in the process of being transferred to state prison. They cannot be released on bond, he said.
Captain Don Harmon, who is in charge of the jail, said about 5,500 inmates are in the jail during a year.
Precinct 2 Commissioner Barry Burton asked about how the closing of the local hospital has affected the sheriff’s office.
“It’s inconvenient, but we’re able to deal with it,” he said. Sometimes one or two deputies have to spend time at a Beaumont or Houston hospital with an inmate, he said. That means deputies are not patrolling streets. He said the trips also add to the gas and car costs.
County Engineer Clark Slacum made requests for the road and bridge department. Last year, commissioners eliminated all overtime pay and salaries for extra help in the department. Slacum asked that the categories be budgeted again for the upcoming budget.
He asked for $25,000 for extra help and $35,000 for overtime. During the summer when the majority of road work is done, the department usually gets about six workers, he said. The summer workers are used as flaggers at road construction sites, mow and do other jobs.
Slacum said the overtime is needed in the summer because it’s “more effective to work 10 hours a day instead of eight hours.”
In addition, overtime is needed for workers on call for emergencies. As an example, he said the sheriff’s office calls the department when a tree falls across a road.
Slacum asked for two employees in the department to be reclassified on the pay scale. He said the changes would cost a total of $3,200 for the year.
-Margaret Toal, KOGT-
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