Richland sheriff pleads for deputy pay raises after County Council votes big raise for itself
A day after Richland County Council members voted to increase their own salaries by several thousand dollars each, Sheriff Leon Lott pleaded with the council for more money for his deputies and warned of a “critical situation” as dozens of deputies have resigned over low pay.
In a letter to council Wednesday, Lott described losing 71 deputies so far this year.
“I have always publicly supported the Council and I will continue to do so, but I am at a loss on understanding how your Sheriff’s Department cannot receive assistance in a critical situation,” Lott wrote.
It was the third memo regarding officer pay that Lott had sent to the council so far this year.
A day earlier, on Oct. 25, Richland County Council members voted 8-3 to raise their own pay by nearly 80%, or roughly $11,000 apiece, by amending the county law that sets their salaries. It was the second of three votes required to change the salary ordinance. If approved by a third and final vote on Nov. 1, council salaries would rise to about $25,600 apiece, and $28,160 for the chairperson.
Councilman Joe Walker, who was one of three council members who voted against raising their pay, on Wednesday confirmed receiving Lott’s letter.
“I don’t believe in coincidences,” Walker said, regarding the timing of Lott’s letter coming the day after council’s second vote on its own pay raises. “I think timing is everything, and I would be just as offended as I assume (Lott) is that elected officials take more priority at escalating their pay at a rate that is absolutely preposterous, as opposed to allocating funds that could be made available to ensure that our constituents are protected appropriately.”
The State has reached out to Council Chairman Overture Walker.
Lott declined to comment on the letter but told The State, “The correspondence was internal between me and County Council. It was not intended to be made public or released to the media. That said, the letters speak for themselves. I look forward to working with County Council on a resolution to this issue.”
‘Difficult to compete’
In the memo reviewed by The State, Lott said his department has struggled to retain deputies when other law enforcement agencies were significantly increasing officer pay.
“We are being left behind at an amount that will be difficult to compete with,” Lott warned in an earlier letter to the council on June 24.
Sheriff’s deputies, along with most other county employees, received a 4% pay raise this year, bringing their starting pay up to about $41,000. But pay for Richland County deputies continue to lag behind neighboring law enforcement departments, Lott said.
In his first memo, dated May 18, Lott cited a 15% pay increase for deputies in Lexington County and the town of Irmo’s $50,000 starting police salary as drains on retention for his department.
“Our starting salary is $39,900, which is the lowest in most of our State,” Lott wrote in the May 18 memo. “I lost two (2) deputies today that went to Lexington County Sheriff’s Department for a $14,000 salary increase.”
At the time of the first request, Lott said the sheriff’s office had lost a total of 35 deputies this year.
A month later, Lott sent a follow-up memo begging the council to take the salary situation seriously.
“The City of Columbia passed their budget with a $7 million dollar increase for Public Safety, to include salary increases well above 4%,” wrote Lott on June 24. He urged County Council to use the federal Covid relief money designated for a public safety emergency to provide an additional 3% salary increase for all deputies. The additional $900,000 would provide an estimated $1,200 pay bump for most deputies.
”This request is not political or about power. It is about doing what is right for the men and women who put on the uniform every day to protect you and your families,” the sheriff wrote.
By October, the sheriff’s department had lost another 36 deputies, said Lott.
The latest memo also included recruitment material for other law enforcement agencies, which boasted $5,000 signing bonuses and salaries approaching $50,000 offered by the Columbia Police Department, S.C. Highway Patrol, and the Lexington and Kershaw county sheriff’s departments.
Richland County Council’s vote on Tuesday supported raising council members’ salaries to 80% of the minimum salary for a full-time county employee, $32,000. Council pay is currently set at $14,500 in its ordinance, with an additional 10% pay for the council chairperson.
Walker, along with council members Bill Malinowski and Chakisse Newton, voted against the pay increase.
During a preliminary vote on Oct. 18, Malinowski called the raise “way out of line” given the difficult financial situation facing the county.
A 4% pay raise for all county employees passed earlier this summer apparently failed to stem the tide of resignations at the sheriff’s department. The budget passed by council this summer also included an additional $334,380 for sheriff’s department personnel over the previous year, bringing the total allotted 2023 personnel budget to $34,075,549 out of total sheriff’s department budget of $41,594,826, according to Richland County’s budget report.
