Mercer County Sheriff Jose Lopez has filed a petition in the Mercer County Circuit Court against the county and its commissioners, Jerry Allen, Cheston Easter, and Zachary Martin. Lopez is petitioning for the county and commissioners to provide him with a salary increase he believes he is legally owed.
The petition states that Senate Bills 53 and 60 were signed by Governor Mike Parson in July 2021, and they became law on August 28, 2022. Statutory sections were enacted related to the administration of justice, including modifying the computation of Missouri sheriffs’ salaries to a percentage of a county’s associate circuit judge.
The petition says that a section of Missouri statutes classifies counties based on their total assessed valuation. Another section states that county sheriffs in a county with a third or fourth classification should receive an annual salary based on percentages of the compensation of that county’s associate circuit judge.
The most updated county statistics from 2022 show Mercer County had an assessed valuation of $92,482,398. It is considered a Class 3 county. State statutes say that a sheriff in a county with an assessed valuation of less than $100 million “shall receive an annual salary” of 45% of the annual salary of an associate circuit judge of the county.
Missouri associate circuit judges receive an annual salary of $150,035. The petition states that the Mercer County sheriff is entitled to an annual salary of $67,515.75, which should have taken effect on January 1, 2022. However, the sheriff is receiving an annual salary of $63,605.87. Lopez was elected Mercer County sheriff in November 2020.
Lopez’s counsel and the county commissioners sent letters to each other regarding the matter. One letter from Lopez explained the statutory change and demanded the commissioners correct the disparity, prospectively and retroactively, dating back to January 1, 2022.
The commissioners sent a letter offering a proposed settlement to adopt the requested pay increase prospectively, effective as of September 1, 2022. The letter stated that the applicable funds would be allotted from the payroll portion of the sheriff’s current budget. The letter also said the commissioners believed the claimed amounts were unconstitutional as prohibited increases in pay during the sheriff’s current term of office and because the amount seeks retroactive pay for periods that are claimed for which pay has already been provided.
