MSPOA Stands with Deputies

The subject of salary and benefits for deputy sheriffs is, to put it mildly, very complex. Of particular concern is longevity payments to deputies and how they are calculated. This has been the subject of two Attorney Generals opinions, a couple of failed legislative attempts, and numerous discussions over the years. In the absence of a clear, understandable statute, counties have drifted into various ways of calculating longevity payments to their deputy sheriffs. Two aspects of the overall issue have come up repeatedly in discussions at MSPOA meetings: 1) whether to include the $2000 increment granted to sheriffs in the calculation of deputy longevity, and; 2) whether to base longevity payments on rank at the time of hiring, or on the minimum statutory amount found in Montana law?

Last year Lewis and Clark County decided to no longer include the $2000 increment in the calculation of longevity payment. The Deputy's Association filed a complaint with the Montana Human Rights Commission. Their position was upheld last October. Lewis and Clark County appealed. The case will be heard in the First Judicial District later this spring.

The MSPOA Board decided to stand with the Lewis and Clark County deputies, and an Amicus Brief (Friend of the Court) has been submitted in the case. Available in PDF.

However the case in District court is resolved, the issue may well require legislative action in the 2007 session. Eventually, all Montana counties ought to be calculating longevity payments to deputies in a standard, uniform, consistent way. This case, and the MSPOA Amicus Brief, may or may not move things in that direction. That remains to be seen.

In any case, however, MSPOA stood with its deputies; and the Association will be on top of the information and ready to do whatever needs to be done next.

Amicus Brief (pdf file)

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