Officials increased the salary for the jail commander in a move to find a permanent employee for the position.
The decision was made during a special joint session of the Washington County Council and Board of Commissioners on Monday, July 15.

According to Council President Mark Abbott, the salary was increased from $38,787 to $57,000 in a 4-0 vote. Those voting in favor of the change were Abbott, Gerald Fleming Sr., Keeley Stingel, and Preston Shell.
Council members Joe Walker Jr., Karen Wischmeier, and Rondale Brishaber were absent from the meeting.
Before the vote, Abbott said Sheriff Brent Miller reported that he had interviewed some candidates for the post, but they weren’t interested in the job after learning the salary.

Miller had included the salary increase in his 2025 budget; however, Council members opted to increase the salary early with the condition that the jail commander won’t see any raises in 2025.

The Council was alerted to the problem with filling the top jail post in May, when Miller said the jail commander’s salary was too low to attract a qualified candidate. He pointed out the salary was about $1,400 more than the correction officers the jail commander supervises.

At that time, Miller had been searching for a new jail commander for about a year after the former commander retired.

The post has been temporarily filled by a road deputy.

The jail commander is the third in command at the jail and oversees 17 correction officers as well as the inmates, who totaled more than 150 as of May.

The jail commander is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the jail, including training new hires, making sure the correction officers meet continuing education requirements, scheduling, record keeping, coordinating inmate transports, and hearing inmate grievances.

Miller said the jail’s correction officers are “a very young, inexperienced staff” that require supervision to ensure they follow important procedures. The situation continues to be a liability concern for Miller.

The jail has several inmates who suffer from medical conditions, addiction, and mental health issues, which Miller said makes running the jail more difficult.

A jail commander salary study Miller provided to the Council showed Floyd County with the highest salary of $92,616. The lowest salary was $34,008 in Crawford County. The average salary among the nine counties included in the study was $58,406.

The jail commander’s salary in Washington County, which is included among the counties in the study, ranked second to last just above Crawford County.

While Floyd County has a jail capacity of 330, Crawford County’s capacity is 78. Washington County’s jail capacity is 254 inmates.