Constables awarded pay increases

GROVETON – After winning support from the Trinity County Salary Grievance Committee, three local constables were granted salary increases last week by the Trinity County Commissioners Court. During a special meeting held Sept. 29, the commissioners voted to increase the three salaries from $5,400 per year to $12,960. The three constables affected by the change include Woody Wallace of Precinct 1, Robert Johnson of Precinct 2 and Kent Blanchard of Precinct 4. Pct. 3 Constable James O. Reynolds did not file a grievance with the salary committee and was not included in last week’s action. During the special meeting, Trinity County Judge Mark Evans said that on Sept. 23, six of the nine grievance committee members met in Groveton to hear the complaint and all six voted to recommend increasing the salaries to $12,960. The three constables had earlier asked the commissioners to increase the salaries to a level equal to that of a sheriff’s department patrol deputy. During a Sept. 14 meeting of the commissioners, Johnson noted that the $5,400 figure put the constables in a classification where they were no longer eligible to obtain state training funds. It also made them ineligible to supplement their incomes by taking private security jobs. “In Precinct 2, I put in about 20 hours a week and at $5,400 per year that works out to about $5.63 an hour – or less than half the rate of a sheriff’s deputy,” Johnson said at the Sept. 14 meeting. He noted that a Trinity County deputy sheriff currently earns about $12 per hour. The increase to the $12,960 figure approved last week will now mean the three constables will be able to obtain the state training money and work as private security officers during their off-hours. During last week’s meeting, both Wallace and Johnson spoke in favor of the salary increase as did two members of the public, Kenneth Wright of Apple Springs and O’Neal Davis of Nogalus Prairie. Johnson was not able to attend the meeting but submitted a letter regarding the committee’s salary recommendation. To come up with the additional $26,720 needed to fund the increase in the three salaries, Pct. 1 Commissioner Grover “Tiger” Worsham agreed to transfer $6,680 from his road and bridge fund. The remaining $20,040 was to be taken from the projected revenues of the four justices of the peace.