Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities

Roosevelt approves officer raises

Officers at the Roosevelt County Detention Center can expect a raise this year after county commissioners approved changes to the pay plan on Tuesday.

The detention center has had ongoing issues retaining personnel and remains the most problematic department in the county in that regard, according to County Manager Amber Hamilton.

Jail Administrator Justin Porter said that after looking at the hiring process it was decided a pay increase would be the best incentive to keep officers on.

“We looked at training, retention and programs to see what we could do to make officers stay,” Porter said. “Our recruiting process is pretty good. We have a good number of people coming in, but the alarming number is the 29 who are leaving.”

Porter said many officers leave after finishing school and are looking to continue their careers elsewhere. At the same time, different law enforcement agencies across the state are all competing for the same pool of officers.

For example, Porter said a nearby county increased its officer wages to $14.53 an hour, while Roosevelt offers $12 an hour.

Over the past two years, over 50 certified officers have left the detention center. Of those 50 officers, 29 left for other jobs and 21 left for other reasons or with no reason given, Porter said.

Porter presented commissioners with multiple options for a pay increase. The commissioners went with a lower option that gave a 50-cent increase for officers and sergeants and a 25-cent increase for lieutenants. After counting benefits, there would be a 79-cent increase at the officer level, a $1.05 increase for sergeants and $1.23 at the lieutenant levels.

The changes would raise the budget by $55,000 a year.

To pay for the increase the remainder of this year, the money needed would be relocated from elsewhere in the budget, primarily from $100,000 the commissioners previously approved to upgrade the detention center’s security systems.

Porter said he could do several of the security upgrades scheduled for the year with the amount left over. The main system needing an upgrade is the memory storage on security cameras, which would allow the jail to retain footage for longer periods of time, which would be taken care of given this adjustment.

Other highlights from the meeting at the Roosevelt County Courthouse include:

• The commission approved a request for a transportation, road use and road maintenance agreement with Sagamore Wind Energy, LLC.

Sagamore is set to begin construction within the next two weeks and will be working to ready the roads to transport the incoming 240 wind turbines to a 100,000-acre project site.

Sagamore will be responsible for restoring the roads once the project is finished. The construction is scheduled to finish by the end of 2020.

• The commission decided to proceed with the disposal of a structure at 1320 N. Boston. The structure exceeded the value, which the finance department could take action to dispose of it on its own.

The structure in question is a dilapidated house with multiple pieces and was ruled unfit to live in. The structure will be put up for auction with no minimum bid. If purchased it will be the purchaser’s responsibility to remove it from the property.

• The county renewed its contract with Trinity Services Group, Inc. to continue providing food services at the Roosevelt County Detention Center.

• Further discussion on the disposal of windmills at the Roosevelt County Fairgrounds was tabled due to the absence of Commissioner Dennis Lopez.

The commission will hold a special meeting at 9 a.m. on Tuesday at the Roosevelt County Courthouse.

 
 
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