CLEARFIELD – The Clearfield County Salary Board on Tuesday morning voted to deny a higher pay rate for a long-time member of the county’s sheriff’s department.
Sheriff Michael Churner requested the board to set the pay rate of the new deputy sheriff position to be filled by current part-time deputy sheriff Chester Hawkins at $14.26/hour, effective Jan. 2.
He said this would waive the probationary hourly rate, and the requested amount is the 2020 union contract rate for a deputy sheriff that’s achieved one year of full-time status.
Human Resource Coordinator Marianne Sankey confirmed for the board that the probationary hourly rate is $12.25, which is set forth in the current union contract.
However, she said Hawkins’ current hourly rate is $12.30 based upon his years of service, and that he will also receive a 40-cent/hour increase at the beginning of the year.
“Chester Hawkins has been with the sheriff’s department for over 44 years,” Churner said in response, adding that Hawkins has served as deputy sheriff, chief deputy sheriff and sheriff.
He also said Hawkins has been a deputy under him for the past year and a half, and the waiver would be to the county’s advantage because he wouldn’t have to hire “someone off the street.”
Churner said if he had to put a new deputy through the academy, it would increase the workload of the department that’s already short-staffed and ragged due to overcrowding at the county jail.
He said when deputy Randy Killion retired in October, he didn’t replace him immediately, which has been a cost savings for the county that outweighs what would be incurred by the waiver of this probationary period.
Commissioner Tony Scotto said the probationary rate is part of the collective bargaining agreement, and any modification would just “open a can of worms.”
Churner said so far as his knowledge, the county has authorized a similar request in the past. Scotto said while that was indeed true, it involved a different union.
After the board denied Churner’s request, Commissioner John A. Sobel assured him that it didn’t question Hawkins’ experience. Like Scotto, he said he didn’t feel comfortable with any modification to the negotiated rate.
