Commonwealth Journal

Hazard-ous duty retirement pay for jail employees is, by now, a long-discussed topic at Pulaski County Fiscal Court.

But, during this week’s meeting, the resolution to give hazardous retirement coverage to the only three jail employees who don’t yet have it made it to a vote — albeit a one that went unpassed.

“I don’t think they (fiscal court) understand what all takes place in a jail,” Pulaski County Jailer Mike Harris said on Tuesday afternoon after the meeting. “It’s literally like running a little city.”

Right now, the jail is housing 253 inmates — well over the maximum of 223 as laid out by state guidelines. Harris said with all his employees at work, including part-timers, that brings the ratio to about one em-ployee per 5.5 inmates.

Those numbers are dangerous, Harris said, and he said he feels all of his employees deserve to receive hazardous retire-ment pay. 

As of right now, all Pulaski County Detention Center employees receive the pay except for three, who were hired after legislative changes were made that now require that hazardous pay be approved through the passing of a resolution by governing city councils and fiscal courts.

Since then, Somerset EMS, the Somerset Fire Department and the Pula-ski County Sheriff’s Department have seen their requests for hazardous pay approved for employees hired after the legislation.

Harris, who has gone before the court multiple times in the last year or so to ask that the pay be approved for employees not grandfathered into the system, was turned down yet again during this Tuesday’s fiscal court meeting.

“It’s not that I don’t feel the job warrants it, it’s just that I don’t think the county can afford it, especially in years to come,” 1st District Magistrate Kenny Isaacs said. “We’re not taking any benefits away from existing people, and I wouldn’t be for that.”

Treasurer Arlene Young said about $155,000 from the jail’s budget carried over from the 2009-2010 fiscal year into the 2010-2011 fiscal year, which began this month.

When asked about the cost of the pay by 4th District Magistrate Glenn Maxey, Harris said he and Young had discussed the issue and discovered that the pay would cost the county about $20,000 each year for each employee. 

But Maxey had some concerns over possible future costs of the pay.

“We’ve been kicking around maybe making that place bigger for you, expanding it ... and if we put on another say 50 employees are we still going to have to (pay)?” Maxey asked. 

“I’ve run the jail understaffed and overpopulated since I’ve been here,” Harris responded. “I told them they either needed to build on or build me a new jail, and they haven’t done either.

“I can’t continue to do what I’m doing. It’s dangerous running it (the jail) at those numbers.”

Harris took several crudely fashioned weapons — made out if items such as a toothbrush and some type of medical instrument — to Tuesday’s meeting. He included one weapon that had been confiscated just Monday night — a sharpened piece from a ringer in a mop bucket. 

Magistrates studied the shivs closely, before 2nd District Magistrate Mike Wilson and 5th District Magistrate Mike Strunk voiced support of a motion to vote on the resolution in a roll call vote.

Isaacs, 3rd District Magistrate Tommy Bar-nett, and Maxey voted nay, making the vote 3-2 against the hazardous pay.

“They (the three employ-ees) are upset over it, because they were counting on that,” Harris said. 

Hazardous coverage allows for retirement after 25 years of work, as compared to 32 in non-hazardous work. The cove-age also allows for a significantly higher disabil-ity coverage than with non-hazardous pay, should the employee become injured while performing the duties of his or her job.

Harris said some funds have been set aside by the Kentucky Jailers’ Associ-ation that will allow him to pursue a lawsuit against the court, but he said he doesn’t want to turn to that route until he and the court have exhausted all discus-sions. 

“That’s going to be my absolute last option,” Harris said.

The court on Tuesday approved Harris’ hiring of two part-time employees at the jail, Alicia Dobbs and Jimmy Wilson. Harris also discussed the jail’s most recent inspection, stating it was suggested that the jail be painted and that the facility was “written up” for overcrowding.