State Ordered Pay Raise for Prosecutors, Leading to Raise for Sheriff

Most people would welcome the idea of ​​telling their boss to give them a raise because it's the law.

But Sheriff Chris Lane said he felt very embarrassed doing just that as he addressed the Bartholomew County Council on Monday.

The veteran board members already knew all about Title 36 of the Indiana Code. Essentially, the law states that in a county the size of Bartholomew, the county must pay the sheriff an annual salary equal to at least 80 percent of what is paid to the county's top prosecutors. lawyer.

Effective July 1, Bartholomew County Prosecutor Lindsey Holden-Kay's salary, along with that of her peers in Indiana's 92 counties, will increase from $178,168 per year to $183,513. Judges, magistrates and assistant prosecutors will also receive a 3% pay increase by order of the Indiana Supreme Court.

Although Lane is paid by county taxes, the seven-member board is still obligated to increase the sheriff's salary to $144,605.

Thanks in part to Title 36, former Sheriff Matt Myers earned about $156,890 during his eighth and final year in office.

In order to pay Lane the additional money he will be owed from July through December, the board agreed to set aside $2,205 from its general fund.

During his presentation to the council, Lane also provided his department's overtime budget incurred during the four days of solar eclipses in early April.

“From the statehouse to the governor declaring a state of emergency, we didn't know what to expect,” Lane said. “Everything happened from Friday to Monday.”

Having extra deputies on highway patrol during those four days cost taxpayers $15,593 in overtime from the general fund. On the prison side, the assignment of additional prison staff from April 5 to 8 cost $13,438 in local income taxes.

Officials were told to expect more than 100,000 visitors. The biggest draw, according to organizers' estimates, was the Eclipsing the Renaissance festival at the Columbus Municipal Airport, with 4,000 attendees.

“It turned out it wasn’t as big a deal as everyone was predicting,” Lane said.

But Chief Deputy Sheriff Maj. John Martoccia offered a different perspective.

“If we didn't prepare for this and something happened, where would we be? »