Pulaski County panel approves 13 deputy jobs

Talks focus on attracting, retaining officers for jail

The Pulaski County Quorum Court budget committee has approved 13 new deputy sheriff positions, half the number Sheriff Eric Higgins requested.

The decision followed a discussion Tuesday night about Higgins’ request. Committee members were apprehensive about approving 26 new deputy sheriff positions until an assessment of the sheriff ’s office by the Centers for Public Safety Management is complete.

Higgins said the enforcement department needs time for training. Vacancies in sergeants will be filled once the promotion process is complete, “but 67% of the time, deputies don’t have a backup on a call” and have to “fight for 35 minutes” to receive additional help, he said.

The sheriff also said that he can’t promote anyone until new officers go through their recruit school, and he can’t wait until May or later for the Centers for Public Safety Management assessment of the department to be done.

“The original plan was for it to be completed in November,” Higgins said.

“When it wasn’t completed and we’re still dealing with data in January and February — I only have a window of time, one time a year to request positions, so I utilize the opportunity to request the same positions I requested last year.”

A week ago, Higgins found out that the center was planning to come onsite for part of the study.

Lillie McMullen, a Justice of the Peace for the fifth district, said she understood that the positions are needed, but if the county’s governing body approved half of the deputies now, it would be redundant once the study is complete.

The Quorum Court will have a follow-up budget meeting in May and June, when they will address the additional positions.

In the sheriff’s detention department, 39 sergeant positions were approved for salary upgrades. The Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program Grant substance abuse counselor received a salary downgrade due to late filing for a grant.

An extension for sign-on bonuses was approved for detention center employees hired from Jan. 1 to Ju

ly 1, 2023 after a discussion among the Quorum Court members about what other incentives are available to retain employees.

At six months, new employees will receive $2,500 and at one year they will receive another $2,500.

Higgins mentioned that the detention department is currently at over 100 vacancies. Phil Stowers, justice of the peace for District 13, asked Higgins what it’s going to take to get the jail to a sufficient staff level.

“It’s a catch-22,” Higgins said. “When you’re shortstaffed and you hire people, and they don’t have time for their family, then they leave, and then you have senior deputies who leave as well because they’re tired of working and not having time with their family.

“They go work at Little Rock, they can go work at the corrections center — we have a $5,000 bonus, Little Rock has a $10,000 bonus. The state police has increased salary, so we’re always competing with that. As we continue to do what’s working to bring staff in, then we’ll get to the point where people can actually spend time with their family and have a balanced work life.”

Making repairs in the detention center is also an issue, Higgins said, as the facility is built for 1,210, but last summer it was averaging 1,380. Repairs to locks were made after detainees were “popping locks open,” he added, and they’re in the process of replacing the central control system to not have to manually lock cells with keys.

“Each of these, as you replace a system, you have to leave a unit open,” he said. “Right now we have an 80bed unit that has to be empty so we can replace the control system in it. As we do the repairs, I think it’s going to help — retention is very important, we have to look at how do we retain the people that are working there, how do we get them to understand their value, what are the benefits we provide our employees?” The lack of spousal coverage on health insurance plans has been a deterrent for potential employees, Higgins noted, as other departments offer this.

The average tenure for the job is three or four years, he said, but it takes about five years to “understand how to do the job.” At four and five years, the agency loses employees, he added.

“If there’s some kind of way to use the salary range, however that looks, whether it’s 10 years, 15 years to get to that top pay. If we can address benefits, continue to fix the facility, have the hiring bonuses to help people coming in to want to stay, I think if we do those things, we can have a significant impact,” Higgins said.

Justice Stowers noted that the state has the same issue in penitentiaries. He said when they did offer spousal insurance, only a small amount took advantage of it. Higgins said that was because they could not afford the monthly premium rate.

The sign-on bonuses should not continue past another year, Higgins explained, but they do need to look at their retention rate because it’s not just the new people who leave.

In the Sheriff ’s enforcement department, three enforcement clerks had their titles changed to enforcement clerk II, 20 sergeant positions were approved for a salary raise, four cadet positions were approved, and new positions of an enforcement clerk II and a lieutenant were approved.

Higgins said the department previously had two cadet positions that delivered results of now two sworn deputies. Higgins mentioned that he started as a cadet when he joined the Little Rock Police Department and went on to serve for 30 years.

“I know the importance of introducing young people into the profession, giving them the opportunity to work in various areas, in the hopes that they will recognize the career opportunity and would want to be a part of the organization,” he said.