(The Center Square) – As Spokane County faces a $20 million deficit, Detention Services and the Sheriff’s Office want to adjust the sign-on bonuses they offer to new hires, including cooks.
Both are grappling with staffing issues, much like other public safety agencies nationwide, since the 2020 protests in response to George Floyd’s death. Law enforcement has relied on these bonuses to attract new hires, with Fremont, Calif., offering up to $100,000 last December.
The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office started offering sign-on bonuses in 2021, which the Board of County Commissioners renewed for up to $25,000 per hire last year. However, Undersheriff Kevin Richey asked the officials Monday to drop the bonus for 240 hours of paid leave instead.
“We changed it tentatively to 120 hours of vacation and 120 hours of sick time for laterals,” Richey said. “Initially, the ask was to [cover] … people who have been commissioned law enforcement for five years; the sheriff asked that I request that we drop that down to two years, so he has a little bit more flexibility, but he will not cover anyone that is a lateral with two years or less.”
Laterals are individuals with prior experience at another agency. SCSO limits bonuses to hires with at least five years of experience, but reducing that to two years could attract more people.
The proposal retains a $10,000 bonus for executive positions, $7,000 for managers and up to $15,000 for nonexempt personnel, but cuts the $10,000 bonus for entry-level deputies entirely.
“I don’t want to make this thing a county nightmare,” BoCC Chair Mary Kuney said, suggesting SCSO should implement a phased approach based on prior experience to save some money.
The commissioners are currently addressing a $20 million deficit after closing a similar shortfall last year. They don’t plan on cutting the bonuses, but money is tight, and the board feels the pressure.
Richey said SCSO has been “successful in hiring” but wasn’t sure how much of that is driven by the bonuses. The county doesn’t track that data, but Richey said just including the incentive in SCSO’s hiring pamphlet makes a difference in maintaining a steady flow of new deputies.
He said SCSO, conservatively, must hire around 10 to 15 lateral deputies annually, if not more.
Detention Services Chief Don Hooper asked the commissioners to renew the $10,000 sign-on bonus for new correctional officers but raise the amount for new cooks. Working in the kitchen currently earns you a $3,500 sign-on bonus, but Hooper wants to make it $10,000 like COs.
If approved, new lateral COs would receive the $15,000 bonus that the county currently offers.
Hooper said Detention Services has paid out $636,500 across 84 bonuses since the county first authorized the program in 2021. Richey didn’t include data on SCSO in his BoCC presentation.
“I think we’ve been successful at it, but as seen back in 2021, there [were] about 35 vacancies; right now, today, we’re at 20 corrections officer vacancies. Mid-July, in three weeks, we’re going to be back up to 23,” Hooper said. “It’s two steps forward, one step back kind of thing.”
He said that the cooks are the most challenging vacancy to fill. Detention Services hired two in 2023 and has had three other vacancies since. Hooper hopes $10,000 will solve that.
The commissioners will vote on extending the sign-on bonuses over the upcoming weeks.
