Vacancies in the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office have grown sixfold in two years, a trend officials say is responsible for ballooning overtime pay and strained jail and courthouse staffing, according to a report by county auditors.
The shortage has forced Virginia’s largest Sheriff’s Office to scale back services at the county’s Adult Detention Center in downtown Fairfax City, curtailing family visits and physical exercise while confining inmates to their cells, Sheriff Stan Barry said.
The agency’s inability to provide enough courthouse guards has slowed down court operations. Administrative and civil enforcement positions also need to be filled. The June 18 report from the county’s Office of Financial and Programs Auditor showed 55 vacancies as of May, compared with nine vacancies in May 2005. Barry said overtime expenditures have increased from $5 million last year to $7 million this year.
“The vacancies hit departmentwide, but obviously our bread and butter is confinement,” said Kevin Pittman, secretary for the Fairfax Deputy Sheriff’s Coalition. “And we’re having issues right now.”
The troubles stem from a 2005 budget decision by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to stop giving equal pay to the police department and the Sheriff’s Office.
Since then, Barry and Pittman said, pay increase for police have outpaced increases in the Sheriff’s Office, making the larger sister agency a more desirable place to work.
Pittman said the board and county executive have been responsive to the problem. They have not, however, indicated whether they will restore equal pay. A starting deputy now makes a base salary of $42,733, Barry said, about 4 percent less than a police officer. The equal-pay policy between the two departments was removed in order to reflect market rates, county spokeswoman Merni Fitzgerald said.
“We reviewed pay for Sheriff’s Office personnel and police personnel [in other jurisdictions],” she said. “In looking at that we adjusted the pay scales accordingly.”
