Swingle wants raise for his investigator

Cape Girardeau County commissioners gave Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle a cool reception Thursday when he asked them to give his investigator a raise.

John L. Volkerding, a former sergeant in the Cape Girardeau Police Department, holds a deputy's commission from county Sheriff John Jordan. But his salary is paid through the prosecutor's office and he works at Swingle's direction. He was left out of the general raise provided for deputies as a result of a new sales tax that took effect Jan. 1.

In his presentation to commissioners, Swingle said Volkerding and prior investigators have been paid the same as a lieutenant in the sheriff's department. To bring his pay in line with other lieutenants, Swingle said, Volkerding deserves the same $6,392 across-the-board raise given to all deputies, as well as the added increment for command positions that was based on length of service, which for Volkerding would amount to $1,350. His annual pay would be $45,927 if the raise is approved by the commission.

Swingle is pushing for the raise now, he said, because commissioners decided last week to implement the raises for deputies earlier than expected. Deputies will begin receiving the larger paychecks at the end of this month, rather than in July as originally planned, and commissioners are studying whether there will be enough money on hand to pass out paychecks covering the period since Jan. 1.

During Swingle's presentation, Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones and Commissioner Larry Bock drew a distinction between deputies under Jordan's control, who were promised a raise when the tax was passed in August, and Volkerding. "We'll look at it, but he is not with the sheriff's department," Jones said.

Swingle replied that Volkerding is a county law enforcement officer and commissioned as a deputy. "When the budget was going on, I wasn't aware it would happen so soon or I would have asked then," Swingle said.

The raises are for deputies, Bock said. "If we want to give him a raise, he should be under the sheriff's department."

Commissioners voted to take the request under advisement.

After the meeting, Swingle said the pay was a matter of fairness. Volkerding must take all annual training required of other deputies and must qualify with a firearm every year.

Some prosecutors take officers on assignment from police agencies as their investigators, but Swingle said his choice is to have an investigator independent of any single agency to avoid conflicts of interest.

Last September, commissioners agreed to allow Volkerding to quit his job long enough to qualify for retirement benefits provided by the Local Government Employees Retirement System. He was rehired after one month.

"That is certainly not a reason to close your eyes and pretend he is not a deputy sheriff," Swingle said. "He has an ID from the sheriff's department and we are gathering some supplementary material for the commission."

Other investigators under his employ have drawn pensions while working full time, Swingle said. "It did not cost the county one penny, and it is irrelevant to this discussion," he said.

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126