Sheriff sees crisis looming over deputy recruitment and retention
PAWNEE CITY – A letter by Pawnee County sheriff’s deputies is asking local lawmakers for swift action to keep the sheriff’s office functioning beyond the new year.
The letter is suggesting the addition of two full-time deputies, hiring bonuses and wage scales comparable to Johnson, Richardson and Nemaha counties.
Sheriff Braden Lang said he has been making similar suggestions since becoming sheriff three years ago, but lawmakers have only authorized a $2 an hour pay raise.
Lang said considering his deputies are paid $10 an hour less than deputies in neighboring counties, the $2 raise was seen as an affront.
Sheriff Lang said agencies in surrounding communities have been able to offer significant pay increases since the coronavirus pandemic and the wage disparity has fallen to a point that Pawnee County can not compete.
His office recently lost a deputy to the state Fire Marshal’s Office, so the remaining two deputies have been working 140 to 160 hours over the last two weeks. Sheriff Lang said the shifts are not sustainable for three people.
The deputies are requesting that overtime pay begins after 80 hours instead of the federal requirement of 86 hours. They are also asking for a pay raise for the criminal analysis assistant and officer retention bonuses beginning with $1,500 after the first year.
Sheriff Lang said he understands the deputies are proposing to leave their positions if a comparable salary is not achieved in January.
The sheriff says if he losses the remaining two deputies, he will be forced to resign because he will not be able to meet the lawful obligations of sheriff alone.
Currently, Pawnee City pays for one deputy with a contract of 20 day and 20 night hours per week.
The sheriff says he has been talking for three years about the problems with pay disparities compared to surrounding agencies. He said the sheriff’s office, like small agencies across the state, is struggling to fill vacancies. There are currently no applications for the current vacancy and the last vacancy went unfilled for two years.
Lang said the light at the end of the tunnel is dimming and the deputies are asking for help from the Pawnee City City Council and Pawnee County Board of Commissioners.
Here is the deputies' letter
Pawnee County Sheriff’s Office
625 6th Street, PO Box 267
Pawnee City, NE 68420
Phone/Fax 402-852-2969
We the remaining Deputies of the Pawnee County Sheriff’s Office respectfully submit the following for the benefit and safety of the Community.
- 2 additional full time Deputy positions for Officer Safety and to eliminate unpaid coverage time and coverage gaps (Sheriff + 5) (no more leaving the County without Law Enforcement when we make trips to Auburn, Lincoln, Omaha and Blair)
- Paid or comped on call time
- $10,000 non-certified hiring bonus paid over the first 3 years starting after probationary period
$12,000 previously certified but has to be reactivated hiring bonus paid over the first 3 years starting after probationary period
$15,000 certified hiring bonus paid over the first 3 years starting after probationary period
- Overtime after 80 hrs instead of 86 hrs (Other agencies do this as an act of good faith for the benefit and retention of their Officers)
- Average Johnson, Richardson, and Nemaha pay (by position) annually and pay the average of that adjusted yearly.
- Give Nancy the $2 per hour increase for increased workload of Criminal Analysis assistance
- Give an Officer Retention bonus matching the State's LEAR Act for all certified Officers (unless they are being paid the above hiring bonus already). $1500 after 1 year, $2500 after 3 years, $3000 after 5 years of service.
- Health Savings Account/Flexible Spending Account and research matching competing Counties Healthcare benifits
- Evidence Room revisions
Adjust the above as economic conditions warrant
______________________ __________________________
Chief Deputy John Samuelson Deputy Taylor Bredemeier
Date: November 20th 2023
