The Louisiana Legislature became so consumed with trying to solve the state’s budget crisis over the past few sessions that bills unrelated to those efforts slid through the legislative process with little notice or substantial debate.
For instance, take House Bill 218—now Act 123—passed by the Legislature during the regular session and signed into law in May by Gov. John Bel Edwards, as Business Report details in its recent news feature. The bill establishes requirements for the Louisiana Sheriffs’ Certification
Program and gives sheriffs a 7% pay raise for participating.
Little was said about the pay raise as the bill sailed through both chambers. Instead, bill sponsors and the Louisiana Sheriffs’ Association framed the legislation as an effort to raise training and educational standards for sheriffs.
But a pay increase for sheriffs—already among the highest-paid public officials in many parishes—is not insignificant. Moreover, this comes after sheriffs received automatic raises for five straight years, a move approved by the Legislature in 2013 and tied to pay hikes for state judges.
The 7% boost will lift the average sheriff’s salary by $12,750 to a base of $172,911. Add in benefits and, according to a fiscal analysis by the legislative auditor, the average total salary jumps to $194,957.
While per capita personal income in East Baton Rouge Parish rose some 15% from 2009 to 2016, the salary of Sheriff Sid Gautreaux increased 20% over that same time frame. Gautreaux’s all-in compensation last year, including benefits, was $219,635, and his base salary of $179,277 was the highest of any sheriff in the state.
One of the few legislators to vote against the bill was state Rep. Jay Morris, R-Monroe, who says he couldn’t support pay raises at a time when the state is struggling with budget shortfalls and few others in the public or private sectors are seeing wage increases.
Although the raise has little impact on the state budget, the money still comes from state taxpayers’ wallets. Sheriffs receive the bulk of their funding from local taxes.
