Restructuring Walker County Sheriff's Office in hopes of increased pay for deputies

WALKER CO., Ala. (WBRC) – The Walker County Commission is restructuring the sheriff’s office to give deputies raises in the near future.

Sheriff Nick Smith says the commission has opened 85 positions for his office for fiscal year 2025. They currently have people filling 104 positions, some of which are part-time.

He says that while the commission isn’t laying people off, those part-time positions won’t be filled after people resign or resign.

In addition to the sheriff’s office’s 85 employees, courthouse security is staffed for five positions and the Board of Education pays for nine school employees. Sheriff Smith says they will only lose five positions instead of nineteen.

“My office and the staff here are doing whatever it takes to get our deputies better paid to do their jobs because that’s one of the issues I’ve had for seven years is paying deputies $13.50 an hour on a market where everyone around you costs $20+ an hour,” he explained.

In addition to losing some part-time positions, the sheriff’s office says they are merging the Narcotics Division and the Investigations Division into a single entity instead of two as it is currently set up.

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