Letters, Columns, & Notes

Readers Ask: Are Salaries at the Sheriff's Office Disproportionate?

Rumors floating around social media claim that six leaders within the Sheriff's Office, including the Sheriff, earned $635,311 in salary and benefits in 2024. The claims suggested that figure had likely only increased. Is that true? How do those salaries compare?

Photo by 愚木混株 Yumu / Unsplash

Let me start by apologizing for taking so long to get you an answer on this one. It's an election year, which adds a sense of urgency, but that makes getting it right even more important.

That starts with accessing the relevant public records and that takes time.

Many people are using AI tools to search or analyze public records, and I see how it can be helpful, especially if you're unsure of how to find the data you need. But AI has its limitations and often gets it wrong.

I'm a big fan of confirming data and prefer to use primary source data whenever possible. That requires a public records request, which takes time to process. I almost hated to make the request. Staff is busy and my gut told me the salaries weren't disproportionate. I've been following the county budget for years and I know that Caswell follows a pay scale, set by the County Commissioners, but several people had asked me about the numbers and I couldn't say for certain. I wanted to get it right. So, I made the ask.

Side note: I often hear people complaining about a lack of transparency in local government, but I've been asking questions of Caswell's local government staff for 20 years and have generally found them to be open and responsive.

I am grateful to Finance and Human Resources for making sure I received the data set before the end of last week.

But having the data and knowing what it says are two different things, so I took the time to analyze it, which required some sorting, calculating, and of course, double-checking.

Here's What I Found

I didn't request the data for 2024, but I do have the current data and can say that today, those same six leaders are earning a total of $488,148 in salary and benefits, which means those officers are actually earning a total salary and benefits package of $147,163 LESS right now than some claim they were earning two years ago.

So why were the 2024 figures so inflated? Again, I didn't confirm the accuracy of the 2024 numbers reported elsewhere, but I do remember that there was a lot of accumulated comp time sitting on the books that had to be paid out because the county couldn't keep carrying that liability on its financial statements. Historically, comp time has been earned when overtime is not approved, but the shifts must still be covered. Comp time accumulates when it cannot be used because there is not enough available staff to cover shifts. A lot of that accumulated comp time was paid out in 2024, which could very well explain the inflated numbers. It's also entirely possible the 2024 numbers floating around online are simply wrong. Either way, those six officers are expected to earn considerably less this year than what some have reported them earning in 2024.

But Are They Making More Than Everyone Else?

Well, let's break it down.

The Sheriff's Office (including the Detention Center, Courthouse Security, and School Resource Officers) currently has 78 staff members.

60 are full-time, 14 are part-time, and 1 is elected
47 are in the Sheriff's Office (including Courthouse Security)
24 are in the Detention Center
4 are School Resource Officers (SROs)

The total current salary cost of the Caswell County Sheriff's Office is $3,445,055.

The total current benefits cost of the Caswell County Sheriff's Office is $464,891.

Total salary and benefits cost: $3,909,946.

The Sheriff is the highest paid position in the department. When we zoom in, we see that the Sheriff’s annual pay is $99,262.55 with a benefits cost of $12,428.72, which totals $111,691.22 or approximately 2.86% of the departmental total. The individual currently serving as Caswell County’s Sheriff has 27 years of service.

The second highest paid position in the department is the second in command, the Chief Deputy, whose annual pay is $72,081.73, with a benefits cost of $9,908.29, which totals $81,990.02, or approximately 2.10% of the departmental budget. The individual currently serving as Caswell County’s Chief Deputy has 23 years of service.

As we move down the ranks, annual pay begins to decrease gradually.

The average annual pay for a full-time law enforcement officer at the Sheriff’s Office (excluding the Sheriff) is $52,540.19.

Benefits costs vary so an apples-to-apples comparison requires us to look at only annual pay, not including benefits. There are 10 deputies with an annual pay of less than $50,000. The lowest of those is $44,038.82, for a deputy whose service began in January of 2025. Most of those deputies earn an annual pay of $45,800.

Corporals earn $49,721 and SROs earn $51,765. Sergeants, detectives, and investigators earn annual pay between $52,278 and $57,079. Lieutenants and Captains earn annual pay between $61,058 and $65,373.

Over in the Detention Center, Detention Officers earn an annual pay between $44,038 and $45,800. Corporals earn between $49,471 and $49,721 while Sergeants earn $54,876. The 1^st Sergeant and Lieutenant earn $57,085 and $61,082.

How Does Caswell Compare?

When I look at compensation in other areas, we seem pretty comparable, thanks to significant efforts over the years, including comparative salary studies, to increase local law enforcement salaries in an effort to remain somewhat competitive.

According to ZipRecruiter, the average annual salary (excluding benefits) for a Sheriff in North Carolina is $102,253 with the lowest being $76,794, and the highest $141,773. The majority of Sheriff salaries range $89,100 - $110,000. Caswell County’s Sheriff has a current annual pay of $99,263.

Also, according to ZipRecruiter, the majority of Deputy Sheriff salaries (excluding benefits) in the state range between $48,200 to $73,200. Some Deputy Sheriff salaries in the state dip as low as $30,899 while others stretch as high as $93,906.

Perspective and Context

Some argue that most people in the County aren’t paid that much, pointing to Caswell’s per capita income of $30,179 (compared to the state’s $41,385 and national $44,673), but this is a bit misleading. Per capita income is not the same as average salary. It is calculated by dividing income by total population, not by actual earners.

The median household income might provide better perspective. In Caswell, where only 30.4% of adults 25 and over have an associate’s degree or higher, our median household income is $59,755 (state average: $73,958). The top four industries currently employing Caswell residents are:

1. Educational services, and health care and social assistance - 22.5%

2. Manufacturing - 17.3%

3. Retail trade - 13.4%

4. Construction - 9.3%

According to the 2024 ALICE Report, 18% of Caswell’s 8,830 households were in poverty, compared to 27% of households found to be ALICE — Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed meaning that the household earns more than the Federal Poverty Level, but less than the basic cost of living. In other words, those households earn too much to qualify for public benefits but not enough to cover the cost of basic necessities.

That means that, in 2024, 45% of Caswell’s households were either living in poverty or barely getting by. That's a significant improvement from 52% of households in 2017 but I wonder how many county employees are still considered ALICE.

According to the report’s bare bones survival budget, a Caswell County household with two adults and two children, who were NOT paying for childcare, would need to bring home $61,944, just to make ends meet.

A single parent with one child who IS paying for childcare would need to bring home $43,956 to make ends meet.

Notice that’s what they need to bring home, after taxes or any other withholdings or deductions. And, that’s only what’s needed to make ends meet, it does not account for things like kids’ sports, family vacations, emergencies, or saving for the future.

In digging through the salary data, I’m not struck by any notable disparities, or disproportionate annual salaries at the Sheriff's Office, but I am left wondering why so many people seem to think that our people don’t deserve to earn a living wage.

I get it, we don’t have a lot of business or industry, so property owners are shouldering most of the tax burden and there’s simply not enough money to go around. But, if we're truly concerned about keeping the staff we have, we might be much better off focusing more on how to grow our tax base and less on trying to shame our county employees.