DOVER, Tenn. (WTVF) — The men and women protecting the Stewart County jails earn an hourly pay that barely covers lunch.
As a result, the Stewart County Sheriff's office is down nearly two dozen correctional officers because of pay and also a few deputies.
The department is dealing with a shortage of deputies and correctional officers due to very low pay compared to the surrounding cities and counties.
Within the last year, six deputies have left, including one supervisor and one investigator, all of which are now working with other law enforcement agencies whose pay is substantially higher than what Stewart County pays.
"We pay less than any of the cities, any of the two cities in Stewart County, any of the surrounding cities like Erin Police Department or Henry County," said Sheriff Frankie Gray.
Running a law enforcement agency is not cheap.
Sheriff Gray has been in charge for two years.
It's a job he loves but it comes with some challenges.
"We've dropped our crime rate. Our solvability rate is up. Our drug arrest is increased by almost 400%. So, we're doing a good job. But if we want to maintain the level of service that we're giving the citizens, we're going to have to come up with more money."
The sheriff's office has a staff of 50 correctional officers and within the last year has lost more than 20 including some supervisors to leave within the last year.
Several agencies are offering additional sign-on bonuses of $3,000 to $3,500 for new hires. The sheriff's office is currently short three deputies on patrol.
They all left for other law enforcement jobs with better pay.
Stewart County pays its deputies $15.46 an hour — $4 to $6 less per hour than any of the bordering and surrounding counties and cities.
The correctional officer starting pay is $11.90 an hour.
"If I keep losing deputies and can't hire certified people in the fall, there's a possibility that I might not have enough SROs to cover all the schools. I don't want that because the safety of the schools is one priority," said Gray. "But I've got to look. I've got to maintain safety for all over the county."
Gray says they will likely have to cut back on non-emergency calls and response time will be longer, and some calls for service may have to be simply taken over the phone.
It also will cause a safety issue for deputies who may not have a backup unit available.
"I just can't pull somebody off the street and put them on the road right now with three short and just hired one. But if I'm hiring a noncertified person that's got to go to the academy, the earliest I can get them in into July. And when I get out, we're still got a field training officer program they got to go through. You're looking at probably December before they're gonna be any use to me."
On the Detention side the continued loss of correctional officers could mean having to shut down one or more inmate pods and the moving of inmates to other jails which could cost the county more than $30,000.00 per month plus lost revenue for every state inmate transferred.
He is asking the county commissioners for more money in the budget.
"I think the commission will work with me. I think they will, but they've got the whole county. I've got the sheriff's department and safety, the people to worry about."
Sheriff Gray will be presenting his budget to the Budget Committee on March 30.
