Mo. deputy sheriffs struggle with low pay

By Kathleen Pointer

Published Nov. 2, 2007

More than 90 of the 114 counties in Missouri have sheriff's deputies who qualify for public assistance due to low salaries. The low pay of these deputies is receiving attention from the Missouri Senate as officers continue to leave county departments in search of higher paying positions.

Senators met in Shelby County, Mo., on Tuesday to discuss the growing problem in small counties.

Sen. Wes Shoemyer, D-Hannibal, whose district includes Shelby County, has played a large role in the effort to increase deputy sheriffs' pay across the state.

"Our committee is looking at the ways counties pay for law enforcement," Shoemyer said in a news release. "Mostly court costs and other fees, reviewing the pay rates for deputy sheriffs across the state and comparing the rate of pay for deputies across Missouri and in neighboring states."

Shelby County is able to start officers at a salary of $21,000 per year. The pay increase is only $2,500, and the highest paid officer in Shelby county makes $23,500 per year. Shelby County Sheriff Daniel Parshall said he has lost officers due to the low pay rates, though county is on average with the rest of the state's deputy salaries, which average $22,000.

"Currently, my officers are starting $11,000 under what the troopers under the academy have," Parshall said. "We're losing officers to the patrol and to states that can pay more."

Shoemyer said it's unfortunate that the counties have been losing deputies to other agencies.

"For too long, counties have been losing deputy sheriffs to the Highway Patrol and other law enforcement agencies that offer better pay and benefits," Shoemyer said.

Parshall said although he does not have any officers on public assistance, he said he has officers who he thinks would qualify for it if they had children.

But Boone County does not face many of the difficulties Shelby County and other Missouri counties face. Maj. Tom Reddin, of the Boone County Sheriff's office, said deputy sheriff salaries range from $29,428 to $44,142.

Reddin said Boone County is one of the highest paying sheriff's departments in the state.

"Boone County has pretty good pay," Reddin said. "We used to lose people to other agencies, and that still happens from time to time, but pay is not the big issue that it was."

Reddin said pay isn't a main reason why the department loses officers.

"We sometimes lose people because of benefits like retirement or they decide to change career fields," Reddin said.

Fully vested officers who decide to retire before they are 62 years old receive a significant benefit cut, but the higher pay in Boone County still pulls officers.

"We're now one of those agencies that attracts people from other agencies," Reddin said. "We receive applicants from other agencies because we have a more competitive pay scale."

Although various efforts have been made to create a statewide Public Safety Enhancement Fund, which would help pay deputies upward of $26,000 per year, many counties are still struggling.

"I hope to see some change," Parshall said. "I'm hoping the senators continue moving forward to find a solution for the problem. It needs to go further than the counties. The counties can't afford more than what they're currently paying. That's why we've gone to the state."