Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Where did the pay raises go?

The low pay of Detention Officers has been a thorn in the side of Hinds County for quite some time.  The Justice Department blames much of the jail's problem on a shortage of employees, while the Sheriff blames the staffing shortage on the low pay scale.  An attempt by the Supervisors to increase the pay of the Detention Officers nearly ten years ago shows the problems in trying to give such raises. 

The Hinds County Board of Supervisors approved a pay increase for Hinds County Sheriff's Department employees in 2008.  The raise was to be implemented over a period of two years.  However, a dispute arose between Sheriff Malcolm McMillin and the Board over the pay raises.  The Board said it would fund the requested pay raises if the Sheriff would provide the raises to his employees across the board- no favoritism.   However, Sheriff McMillin didn't see it that way and said he had the right to determine who did and didn't get a raise in his department.  The Sheriff was so miffed over the Board's concern for his employees that he didn't make a budget request for the second part of the raise. JJ obtained a copy of financial records that shows how Mac used the money given to him.

The Board said it was funding an across the board pay raise where everyone was supposed to get the same raise.  Mac ignored the board and proceeded to play with the pay as was his divine right. The documents posted below show who got a raise and the size of the raise (use the pay increase in the "one half" column).  The pay raises posted below are monthly amounts. See for yourself:

Officers:
Benjamin Langford (Cpt.): $690
Charles Jones (Cpt.):  $498
Gerald Dettman (Cpt): $642
Bobby Funchess (Cpt.): $692
Stephen Bailey (Cpt.): $498
Victor Mason (Cpt.): $742
Henry Glaze (Cpt.): $642
Ken Magee (Cpt.): $117
Nathaniel Ross (Cpt.): $692
Jon Cooley (Cpt.): $601
Pete Luke (Cpt.): $342

It appears Mac was trying to increase the pay of all captains to the same level of pay at $4,434/month for all certified captains.  However, those who were at the bottom of the rankings barely got anything. Detention officer raises ranged from no raise to $218 per month.  Most of them received raises of either $118 or $168 per month.  Sergeants received raises ranging from $300 to slightly over $600 per month.  Mac apparently wanted to increase the Sergeants' pay rate to $3,480 per month when both raises were provided.  Most patrol officers received raises of $220-300 per month, as the projections show the pay scale after both raises would be approximately $2,500 per month. 

The initial request was for $2.7 million.  The Board approved funding of $1.597 for the first year.  However, the Sheriff never asked for the remaining $1.124 million.  Former District 4 Supervisor Phil Fisher said the Supervisors wanted to provide an equal raise to all HCSD employees.  However, Sheriff McMillin took great issue with their position and argued he wanted to decide which employees got a raise and how much the raise should be.  Mr. Fisher said he refused to ask for another raise if it meant he had to abide by the Board's wishes.

Note: The "one-half" column states the raise that was actually given to the employee.  The "difference" column is what the amount of the increase would be when both raises were added together.


Posted by Kingfish at 10:39 AM

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

The HCSO has long been a job factory that produces employees that get the sheriff elected. Mason and Luke are scared to assign real deputies to the jail because they wil either quit or support another candidate next election. He's just not going to do it. Federal judge be damned.

July 18, 2017 at 10:46 AM
Kingfish said...

The Sheriff has been assigning more deputies to the jail lately.

July 18, 2017 at 10:52 AM
Anonymous said...

Pete has been very selective on which Deputies go to the jail. The ones that do go, quit shortly thereafter..

So he won't even be able to fill the previous certified openings, because NOBODY is signing up to go work that DANGEROUS jail and Mason/ Pete still won't allocate the funds properly. They just can't do it, too much GREED AND EGO.

July 18, 2017 at 11:40 AM
Anonymous said...

Mason has already lost the re election campaign, due to all the firings and transfers. Pete Luke is and always will be out for Pete Luke..he screwed Mac and he'll screw Mason and go run too Dean Scott in Pearl for sanctuary.

That place is far from imploding completely ..Masons never there a doesn't care about the DOJ.

July 18, 2017 at 11:49 AM
Anonymous said...

Why would the supervisors think they know more about how to distribute the payroll money than the sheriff? The sheriff is responsible for recruiting, hiring, firing, and job performance. This is typical thinking by government officials - give everyone the same raise. Cut all departments by the same amount. In the real world where businesses have real competition money is spent where it will get results and the people in charge of running something are allowed to run it.

July 18, 2017 at 1:41 PM
Anonymous said...

All the names listed were political hires and were politically appointed those gravy positions.

A few were by the votes they could garner, or favors by JPD history, or the checks they collected. Mac was a consummate politician in everything he Did, NOT BEING A GOOD SHERIFF.

July 18, 2017 at 2:23 PM
Anonymous said...

Let's just say 4 of the 11 Mac worked at JPD with ( Losers ) the others were political hires or got votes in the black community..

Plain and simple.

VICTORS trying to do the same thing but much more stupid. Victor finished and hope he really knows this.

July 18, 2017 at 2:35 PM
Anonymous said...

1:41 the sheriff has full authority to distribute payroll as he sees fit. When it gets botched for 20 years, the BOS has the authority to throw more money his way or not. And that decision is surely influenced by past performance.

You could give every jailer a $5,000 raise and still easily fit within the existing budget. The sheriff gets nearly half of the funds in the general fund budget and the funds go everywhere except the jail.

July 18, 2017 at 4:22 PM
Anonymous said...

Steve Bailey was NOT a political employee. He was, and is, one of the most skilled homicide investigators in Hinds County; light years better than all but two equally talented JPD detectives in all of Hinds County law enforcement. I know. I prosecuted homicides for both groups.

July 19, 2017 at 6:23 AM
Anonymous said...

Agree with 6:23, Bailey was a great asset to the department. He has been in investigations since before Mac was first elected. I'm sure they miss him now that he's retired.

July 19, 2017 at 11:00 AM
Anonymous said...

I noticed a name on this list and on one other list posted in an earlier article. Nick Clark. How is he being paid? He was a reserve?!?!?!?! He never graduated from MLEOTA. If he's being paid for political reasons there is your problem with the sheriff's office. Mason, Pete Luke and the others should be exposed and run out town for spreading Hinds County tax payers money amongst all their friends. There is another word for this. CORRUPTION. And it starts at the top. You have a choice Hinds County. Get rid of these guys, or give your money over to political thieves, Slic Vic Mason, Pete Luke, Nick Clark and friends. So sad......

July 19, 2017 at 1:30 PM
Anonymous said...

Masons finished. Spooner will allocate the money properly and No More free political rides for the good ole boys..

Doing things right!

July 19, 2017 at 4:39 PM
Anonymous said...

Masons staff is dwindling and their jumping ship as soon as their told to go to the jail..lol

Poor ole little fella, bless his heart, he tried.

July 19, 2017 at 4:42 PM
Anonymous said...

The pay raises went to the Mayor and Board of Aldermen in Madison. Mary jumped her pay from $36,000 to $98.000 and the Board jumped theirs to double what it was last week, a $12,000 increase. Ironically this came shortly after the election cycle ended. The explanation given by one alderman (who raised his pay) is that Mary will retire one day and we need to get in line with pay that will attract good candidates.

Can we look for the Chief and other department heads' pay to double in Madison, The Safe City?

July 20, 2017 at 6:19 AM
Anonymous said...

The BOS had better be careful with the money they give Mason to "straighten the jail out". In other words, the jail had better be getting straightened out and not just giving overtime money to whoever for whatever...

Mason is not doing the job that we elected him to do. For that he will be voted out of office along with his cronies that steal with him at the SO. But, if you give him money with no accountability or results dictated with it, you will be joining the unemployment line right along with Mason and friends.

Be careful and use your head and do the right thing. We the people are watching...

July 20, 2017 at 11:40 AM

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