Stark County Sheriff Says He and Deputies Need Raises | Video

Jeremiah McDaniel | 9/21/2010

The oil boom is having a negative impact in the Stark County Sheriff`s Department. The Sheriff says he and his deputies should be making more money. He says the situation is so bad that two of his deputies are hanging up their badges and heading out to the oil fields instead. But county commissioners say they can`t spend money they don`t have.

The Stark County Sheriff and his deputies believe they have prestige but they don`t think their salaries reflect their value. Sheriff Clarence Tuhy says their take home pay is not making the cut when compared to other state agencies. He brought that issue to the Stark County Commission`s attention Tuesday morning.

"My goal today was to try and get the wages within the proper county alignment with what it should be compared to some of the other counties in the state that have populations similar to ours," said Tuhy.

Tuhy says a number of his sergeants, captains, and lieutenant are underpaid, and he`s losing them to better jobs.

"I had one deputy resign as of the 21st because of financial reasons. And we talked about it, and he`s going to the oil field," explains Tuhy. "My Captain just resigned as of September 31st because he got a job with an oil company as well."

Commissioners responded with a $200 a month increase for the sheriff and a substantial raise for the detective. But they decided to hold off on raises for other positions.

"The commission`s stance is that we want to fairly compensate our employees, there`s no doubt, but there`s only so many dollars we have to work with," says commissioner Jay Elkin.

The commission will conduct a pay study to determine what the salaries should be. Elkin says that could take up to six months.

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