Sheriff Hanna Requests Over $600,000 in Salary Increases

SAN ANGELO, TX - Tom Green County Sheriff Nick Hanna made a plea for salary increases in his department Tuesday, July 2, 2024, during his annual budget proposal in County Commissioners Court.

Hanna said Tom Green County continues to lag behind most other counties in the area and across the state in salary levels for sheriff's office deputies and detention center employees.

Tom Green County's starting salary of $50,000 for sheriff's deputies ranked above only Concho and Schleicher counties in our area, according to a chart displayed during Hanna's presentation.

Counties such as Glasscock, Martin, Howard, Ector, Upton, Coke, Mason, Taylor, Irion and Sterling all offered more money than Tom Green.

"These are the counties that call us when they need help. That needs to be addressed, in my opinion," Hanna said. "Besides the San Angelo Police Department, there's not one agency on this list that can do what we do, so why are we down there?"

SAPD ranked fifth on the 14-department list that Hanna provided with a starting salary of $58,500.

Hanna said it's critical to remain competitive with salary levels to prevent losing employees to other agencies.

"If we want major league players over there, we can't pay them a Double A salary," Hanna said. "Culture, training, a feeling of family, that's all there. But without being properly compensated, it's not tenable.

"Now the court's done a good job. We've had two very significant raises the last two years, but we've got to keep that needle moving."

Hanna proposed a salary increase of at least 3% to bump the deputies' salaries up to $51,500, along with an increase in stipends.

In addition to deputies, the Sheriff's Office also oversees the Tom Green County Detention Center, courthouse security, dispatch, criminal investigations, forensic services, crisis intervention unit and transport division among others.

The detention center alone had a budget of nearly $12.8 million this fiscal year, with a proposed budget of over $13.1 million next year.

"One of the biggest responsibilities we have is that facility out there on (US Highway) 67. It's just not always in the public eye," Hanna said.

Turnover at the jail has been particularly costly, Hanna said. Nearly $780,000 has been spent on training new jail employees since January 2020, but many of them don't last. In the last 12 months, the jail has hired 22 new officers while losing 36.

"It puts too much stress on people out there, because the state tells us we have to have X number of jailers out there, so we've got to call people in," Hanna said. "In this day and age, if you get called in too many times on your day off, they'll say, 'You know what, I can work at Home Depot for the same money without the headaches and guys spitting on me and attacking me.'"

Similar to deputies' salaries, Tom Green County also trailed in pay for counties with comparable jail sizes. With a starting salary of $43,200, Tom Green County ranked above only Henderson County on the chart Hanna provided.

Hanna said he understands that all county departments have financial needs, but he said the unique dangers faced in his department are different.

"If you give one person more money, one person may get less, and that's reality," Hanna said. "My argument is it's justified. If a person wants more money, they can go through training, get sworn in as a deputy and get shot at. That's my opinion."

The Sheriff's Office had a total salary of $4,191,354.70 for the 2023-24 fiscal year. Hanna's proposal requested $4,396,254.97 for next year, an increase of $204,900.27 in salary and stipends.

The jail had a total salary of $6,403,783.10 for the 2023-24 fiscal year. Hanna's proposal requested $6,812,843 for next year, an increase of $409,059.90 in salary and stipends.

Other budget proposal highlights:

- With two new deputies set to be sworn in, the Tom Green County Sheriff's Office will be fully staffed for the first time since 2008.

- Hanna proposed a new position of a school resource deputy that would spend at least one day each week on county campuses in Grape Creek, Water Valley, Veribest, Christoval and Wall. 

Hanna said all of the school districts were receptive to having a deputy visit their campus, but not all of them were willing to help fund the endeavor.

- A Shannon Medical Center supervisor spoke on behalf of the hospital's partnership with the Tom Green County Detention Center. 

Shannon's staff and facilities at the jail helped prevent numerous transports to the hospital, he said.

The supervisor said Shannon expects to add IV therapy inside the jail in the coming year, improve wound care treatment and better address prenatal care for pregnant inmates. He said Shannon's prescription program will also drop costs in that area for the county.

The jail had a budget of more than $1.9 million for medical expenses this fiscal year, a number that was proposed to increase to just over $2 million for next year.