Perry County Sheriff Gary Schaaf sues salary commission, on which he serves, over pay dispute

Perry County Sheriff Gary Schaaf is suing the county's salary commission on which he serves, claiming he was underpaid for more than two decades in violation of state law.

Schaaf first sued the Perry County Commission in December 2018.

On Tuesday, the salary commission and its members were added as defendants in the suit.

The latest filing came after Judge Stephen Mitchell said he would dismiss the original lawsuit unless the salary commission and/or its members were included in the litigation.

Mitchell gave Schaaf until the end of July to amend the suit.

The salary commission comprises all the county officeholders. County officials said earlier this year that Schaaf, as a member of the salary commission, had voted to approve the salary that he now contests.

Schaaf's attorney, John Loesel of Jackson, filed an amended petition that lists all members of the salary board except for the sheriff.

The county commission's St. Louis attorney, Ivan Schraeder, had sought to dismiss the original lawsuit because it only named the county commissioners as defendants and not the Perry County Salary Commission or its members.

Schraeder wrote in a memorandum to the court that the salary commission determines the salary of the sheriff and other officeholders as spelled out in state law.

The amended suit seeks more than $25,000 plus interest, and asks the court to order the defendants to set Schaaf's salary at an amount that factors in proper salary adjustments.

Since 1997, the sheriff has been paid less than required under the Missouri Constitution and state laws, the petition claims.

Loesel, Schaaf's attorney, wrote that the longtime sheriff should have been paid a salary of $46,000 in 1997, but was only paid $34,116.17.

Schaaf's current salary is $54,298, according to county records.

The amended petition states that Schaaf "has been further damaged" because regular salary adjustments were based on the 1997 salary.

"The nature of the plaintiff's damages are ongoing in that to this day his salary is well below what it should be were defendants in compliance with Missouri law dating back for over 20 years," Loesel wrote.

Schaaf has served as Perry County sheriff since Jan. 1, 1993. He previously served as Perryville's police chief.

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