DeWitt County Commissioners Court: Committee formed to address staffing shortage at sheriff’s office

  • (L-R) Sheriff Carl Bowen and County Judge Daryl Fowler inspect an agreement at last Monday’s commissioners court meeting.
    (L-R) Sheriff Carl Bowen and County Judge Daryl Fowler inspect an agreement at last Monday’s commissioners court meeting.
  • Treasurer Carol Ann Martin presents to the DeWitt County Commissioners Court Nov. 14.
    Treasurer Carol Ann Martin presents to the DeWitt County Commissioners Court Nov. 14.

    In an attempt to tackle a severe staffing shortage at the sheriff’s office, the DeWitt County Commissioners Court formed a committee to revamp the salary pay schedule last Monday.

     

    Although no action was taken other than selecting committee members, Sheriff Carl Bowen suggested a meeting soon to consider incentives for recruits. The committee consisted of County Judge Daryl Fowler, Commissioner Precinct 1 Curtis Afflerbach, Sheriff Bowen, Auditor Carrie Rea and Treasurer Carol Ann Martin. 

     

    Bowen reported eight of the 21 deputy positions were open and discussed incentive programs used by agencies statewide to combat staffing shortages.

     

    “I understand that there is no action that can be taken (today), but I ask that the committee consider action on some of these items sooner rather than later,” said Bowen during the meeting. “(This is) simply because when we are going in and recruiting to some of these academies, we need to have a better selling stance than what we have now.”

     

    The Sheriff said a study of surrounding agencies found that DeWitt County is more aligned with the cost of living in Victoria than Lavaca, Karnes or Gonzales counties. Bowen said tactics used include incentivizing employees based on their certification levels, compensation for longevity, incentives for multi-lingual employees, paying recruits while they complete the certification process and incentives for TCOLE instructors. 

     

    The county Treasurer requested detailed discussion for committee discussions and recognized the urgency of salary pay schedule changes since the sheriff’s office employs about half of the total employee pool.

     

    “I know Sheriff Bowen has a wish list. He pretty much covered in court this morning with training pay and things like that,” said Martin after the meeting. “That is going to have to be something that is going to be looked at by the committee, and the decision is ultimately up to the court.”

     

    Martin said she hoped the committee’s amendment process would be wrapped up by early summer in time for the budget process to continue.