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Tarrant County Sheriff's Office, Texas, 2008-2011
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Tarrant County Sheriff's Office salaries are public records under the Texas Public Information Act.[1]
Salaries
According to The Texas Tribune, the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office had a total of 1,279 employees in 2011.[2]
- The highest salary was $141,014 for Robert A Knowles, the Chief Deputy for Confinement.
- The lowest salary was $25,563.
- There were no employees earning over $150,000 a year.
The following table outlines the top 10 salaries in 2011:[3]
| Name | Agency | Department | Title | Salary |
| Robert A Knowles | Tarrant County | SO-Confinement-Admin | Chief, Deputy, Executive, Confinement | $141,014 |
| Dee B Anderson | Tarrant County | SO Sheriff Admin | Sheriff | $139,245 |
| Terrence A Grisham | Tarrant County | SO Sheriff Admin | Sheriff Executive Administrator | $112,724 |
| Mike E Simonds | Tarrant County | SO-Investigations | Chief, Deputy, Warrants & Investigations | $112,553 |
| Austin Jay Six Jr | Tarrant County | SO-North Patrol | Chief, Deputy, Patrol | $108,830 |
| John M Ray | Tarrant County | SO Sheriff Admin | Chief, Deputy, Executive, Operations | $103,646 |
| Terry B Williams | Tarrant County | SO-IT | Manager, Systems | $102,108 |
| Amy D Ferrell | Tarrant County | SO-Bailiff | Chief, Deputy, Judicial Services & Admin | $101,368 |
| Walter S West | Tarrant County | SO-North Patrol | Commander, Auto Task Force | $92,025 |
| Charles A Eckert | Tarrant County | SO-Employee Relation | Chief, Deputy, Employee & Community Rela | $90,213 |
Benefits
The Tarrant County website provides information on employee benefits. The following benefits are provided for employees:[4]
- Insurance
- Leave
- Flexible spending account
- Holidays
- Retirement
- Wellness program
- Staff training
- Employee assistance program
The county provided information on sick days and vacation packages. The following table outlines total amount spent on sick days and vacation packages for the 33 highest-income employees.[5]
| Year | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
| Compensable sick/vac. balances | $1,229,082 | $1,281,034 | $1,275,810.64 |
Salary records project
In 2011, Sunshine Review chose 152 local governments as the focus of research on public employee salaries. The editors of Sunshine Review selected eight states with relevant political contexts (listed alphabetically):
1. California
2. Florida
3. Illinois
4. Michigan
5. New Jersey
6. Pennsylvania
7. Texas
8. Wisconsin
Within these states, the editors of Sunshine Review focused on the most populous cities, counties and school districts, as well as the emergency services entities within these governments. The purpose of this selection method was to develop articles on governments affecting the most citizens.
The salary information garnered from these states were a combination of existing online resources and state Freedom of Information Act requests sent out to the governments.
A study published by the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia said the city of Philadelphia faced challenges owing to the cost of public employee pensions.[6] The report claimed the amount that Philadelphia paid to pension recipients limited the city’s ability to use its budget effectively.
The report said there were more individuals receiving pension benefits—33,907 claimants in 2006—than workers in the city—28,701.[6] The authors recommended three steps towards addressing the problem of high costs in pensions: improved data collection, expanded transparency initiatives, and reductions to the city's overall budget.[6]
Salary schedules can be published as ranges, not as specific compensation figures, and may leave out compensation received through health and retirement benefits, as well as benefits such as commuter allowances and cell phone reimbursements. This project aimed to close the gap and provide a more accurate picture of public employee salaries for the sake of public education and transparency.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Are city employees' salaries public information or are they protected for personal privacy?—Texas Center for Community Journalism
- ↑ Texas Tribune "Tarrant County Sheriff's Office Salaries"
- ↑ Texas Tribune "Tarrant County Sheriff's Office Salaries"
- ↑ Tarrant County Benefits
- ↑ Data Given to Sunshine Review (dead link)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 '’Philadelphia’s Quiet Crisis: The Rising Cost of Employee Benefits, Pew Charitable Trusts and the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia, January 23, 2008
