Council to adjust descriptions

Jay County Council is continuing to fine-tune job descriptions and salary ordinances.

At their meeting Wednesday, council members discussed changes that will keep the county in compliance with Indiana Code while allowing the sheriff’s office to remain on its traditional schedule.

Management consulting firm Waggoner, Irwin, Scheele and Associates is currently updating the county’s salary ordinance and job descriptions for Jay County Sheriff’s Office after a meeting this week with sheriff’s office employees. 

Last year, the county adjusted its pay periods to place all county employees on the same schedule. Employees would be paid for working 40 hours each week. But there were concerns about the effect on sheriff’s deputies, who work four days on, two days off, rather than a 40-hour week. 

In December, council clarified that deputies would be paid for working 80 hours over the span of two weeks. But that still did not resolve the problem. 

“There’s 14 weeks out of the year that our officers only work 32 hours a week,” said sheriff Dwane Ford. 

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) lays out a 7(k) exemption for law enforcement, allowing employers to set up alternative work periods. Auditor Anna Culy told council she combed through council minutes dating back to the 1960s. While the exemption was discussed, council never formally voted on it. 

“In 1993 … from that point on, every salary ordinance that was ever adopted … stated that the sheriff’s department worked a 40-hour week, every week,” Culy said. “So that didn’t exactly jive with what was actually happening.” 

Since January, sheriff’s office employees have dipped into their comp time to make up for any gaps in their 80 hours over two weeks. That comp time will be reimbursed once the ordinance is updated. 

“In order to pay them for 80, according to the salary ordinance — 80 in two weeks, 40 in one — I had to have a reason to pay them for 80 or I would be violating, intentionally, the salary ordinance,” Culy said. “And I’m not going to do that.”  

Council president Jeanne Houchins said there will likely be a special meeting later this month to vote on the ordinance. 

Also on Wednesday, council voted to send job classifications from Jay County Retirement Center to both Waggoner, Irwin, Scheele and Bliss McKnight, an insurance and risk management consultant. Many jobs have morphed together over the years at the center. There was also concern about liability issues, as an employee dispenses medication to the residents. 

In other business, council members Faron Parr, Gary Theurer, Cindy Newton, Ted Champ, Mike Rockwell and Houchins, absent Amy Runyon-Barrett, approved several additional appropriations.

The bulk of the transfers were for Jay County Emergency Management, totaling $6,199.94

Other appropriations were $20,000 from substance abuse program fees to Meridian Health Services and $360 from probation user fees to pay for on-call service for probation officers.