At the August meeting of the Independence County Quorum Court, justices voted to increase the salaries of all elected office holders, retroactive to the first of the year.
According to the minutes of the meeting, Independence County Judge Robert Griffin made the recommendations, reminding the court that elected officials had not been included in two employee raises in recent years. He also said a salary increase for elected officials would be in line with other Class 4 counties (those with populations of 30,000 to 49,000) in the state.
Griffin‘s recommendations included a 10% raise for the county judge to $75,294.74 annually, an increase of $6,694.74 yearly. His recommendation for the sheriff’s salary was a 17.6% increase to $72,468.58 annually. The salaries of elected officials such as assessor, collector, circuit clerk, treasurer, and county clerk would receive a 21% increase in annual pay to $64,535.29.
And JPs needed the highest percentage increase in pay (41%) in order to reach the medium range for a Class 4 county — from $270 per monthly meeting to $380.
The judge also asked the court’s permission for departments to seek giving employees a 5% pay raise for 2023. Alternatives were offered for those departments who could not find the money for the raise in their budget, the minutes said.
Griffin told the JPs that he and County Treasurer Bob Treadway had determined the county’s general fund had enough to support the increases for 2022.
He also said he would refuse the increase in the judge’s salary for 2022 — his last year in office — since he was the one making the proposal to the justices. He said the pay raise for the office would begin with the next county judge, Kevin Jeffery.
JP Brent Henderson made a motion to set the goal with a second by JP Mark Biram. The motion carried with a unanimous vote.
All JPs were present except for Charles Jordan.
The next meeting of the Independence County Quorum Court is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 12, 2022, at the Jess B. Carpenter Building, 368 E. Main St., in Batesville. The meeting begins at 6 p.m.
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