Comanche County commissioners change pay schedule for detention center employees

Employees of the Comanche County Detention Center are going to a twice-a-month paycheck system.

Comanche County Commissioners, acting in their capacity as the Comanche County Facilities Authority, approved the change Monday, replacing what is now a monthly pay schedule with a bi-weekly one. District 3 Commissioner Josh Powers and Jail Administrator David Weber said the argument is twofold: helping to retain and recruit employees, while ensuring employees actually work the time for which they are paid.

That’s the driving factor for Powers, who said while the existing pay system pays for the entire month, the check actually is given to detention center employees before the end of the month. That means that an employee can receive his paycheck then quit, essentially meaning that employee is paid for time they did not work (something that has happened) and with no real way for the county to recover those funds. He said it’s an issue for the detention center, an entity with “a high turnover rate” of employees, where other county departments tend to be more stable with long-term employees.

Weber said pay, coupled with a check received only once per month, is among the reasons his employees resign.

“It’s starter pay and only once per month,” Powers said, agreeing that causes problems with employee retention, as does the fact many employees are young and struggling with their first job.

District 1 Commissioner Trent Logan suggested tabling the action for discussion, saying while he agreed with the idea, he wondered if other county offices might want the same change. Central District Commissioner Johnny Owens, the board’s senior, said other offices have asked about transitioning to twice-a-month. But Powers said the detention center needs to be done now.

“We need to get going,” he said of what he called the complicated issue of transitioning from once-a-month to every other week.

He said the transition must take place at a specific time, and if commissioners miss this window, the change will have to be delayed until the calendar can be analyzed again and a new period selected. Powers also said the structure that will be put into place is one used by the City of Lawton, where employees are being paid for work they completed two weeks previously. That ensures employees are not paid in advance, then quit, he said.

In other business, commissioners approved a $750 payment to Sharp Design & Drafting, the firm that will create preliminary drawings for existing and new parking to be created after the county demolishes a former bank at 601 SW D. The building, located immediately west of the Comanche County Courthouse, is owned by the county and now used for storage.

Commissioners have said they want to tear it down and build a parking lot in its place, to give the landlocked courthouse more parking options. Funding will come from the county’s ARPA allocation.