Mobile County payroll records show the county’s top 20 overtime earners collected a combined $492,867 in extra pay last year, part of more than $3.7 million the county spent on overtime overall.
On average, each of the top 20 overtime earners brought in about $24,643 beyond their base pay, somewhat less than the roughly $33,152 average among the City of Mobile’s top 20 overtime earners over the same period. The vast majority of the county’s overtime spending, about 86 percent or $3.3 million, went to law enforcement personnel, including Mobile County Sheriff’s Office deputies and Thirteenth Judicial Police officers.
Mobile County Sheriff Sam Cochran said the overtime reflects the practical realities of policing, which often requires odd hours, specialized training and additional staffing that can be cheaper to cover through overtime than through hiring additional full-time employees with benefits. He noted the Mobile County Metro Jail’s staffing levels have not grown in roughly 20 years even as the jail’s population has increased by about 60 percent, pushing existing staff to work more overtime to keep shifts covered.
Only one of the top 20 overtime earners worked outside law enforcement: Mobile County Revenue Commission Administrator Glen Ford, who collected $21,702 in overtime on top of his $72,588 salary. Revenue Commissioner Marilyn Wood said Ford, a 28-year county employee, handles bankruptcy, personal property and tax abatement cases that often begin as early as 4 a.m., and that his specialized training includes teaching a tax abatement course at Auburn University.
Among the highest individual earners were Sheriff’s Sgt. Daniel Holifield, who collected nearly $39,000 as an on-call employee managing the department’s vehicle fleet and volunteering for weekly highway enforcement shifts, and Deputy John Cassidy, a narcotics investigator who earned around $34,500 through overtime tied to surveillance work and court appearances. Thirteenth Judicial Police Chief Charles Dube, whose staff earned significant overtime providing security at Government Plaza during roof construction work, said he expects that department’s 2015 overtime costs to drop to roughly a third of the prior year’s total now that the repair work is complete.
County officials have not signaled plans to change staffing levels in response to the figures, with Cochran maintaining that overtime remains the more cost-effective option for covering the department’s staffing gaps.