GEORGETOWN—Pay for sheriff’s deputies, constables and corrections officers in Williamson County just got a big boost, and officials hope it will help fill dozens of open positions.
At the Jan. 24 meeting, the Williamson County Commissioners Court voted 5-0 to approve a long-awaited compensation plan that raises salaries for deputies and correction officers to among the highest in the region, with a starting salary of $51,000, up from just over $44,000, for corrections officers, starting Feb. 3.
Williamson County Sheriff Mike Gleason said the pay increase was overdue.
“Let me tell you how my weekend went,” Gleason said. “I lost three of my corrections officers to Cedar Park and Leander… They have left me, said, ‘Hi and Bye,’ and we have years with them. They are going to start as police officers and will be paid a full police officer’s salary.”
“This court I believe has had a strong history of supporting law enforcement, and I think we have done a good job, but I think the proposed salaries that we are talking about aren’t good, I think they move us to a level of great,” said County Judge William Gravell.
The county has 62 vacancies for corrections officers, according to officials.
“Our problem that we are trying to solve is that we have a lot of openings,” said Precinct 3 Commissioner Valerie Covey. “This is supposed to solve that problem.”
