Ripley Co. Council Responds to Claim of Disparagement in Law Enforcement Salaries

Thursday, March 9, 2023 at 10:00 AM

The next Ripley County Council Meeting takes place on March 20 at 6:00 p.m.

(Versailles, Ind.) - Ripley County Council has issued a statement regarding a deputy shortage in the county.

In a news release earlier this week, Ripley County Sheriff Rob Bradley stated “his office is facing a staffing crisis that stems from a wide disparagement in law enforcement salaries.”

Bradley mentioned that his office has lost four deputies in the last six months and one more is currently in the hiring process for the ISP to be decided in May.

That leaves just six deputies on patrol to cover more than 440 square miles in service for more than 30,000 residents, according to Sheriff Bradley.

On Wednesday, Ripley County Council issued the following statement to Eagle Country 99.3.

“We the Ripley County Council understand how important salaries are. When the Sheriff came to council in January, he asked for a 41 percent raise and the 911 manager asked for a 21 percent raise also. They both said they were going to lose people if we don’t do this now. We were taken by surprise, we had no idea. We have been and will continue to work on this situation. Everyone in the county is very important and we work by the tax dollars. We’re not a company that sells items to make money so we cannot compare with other counties or cities. We have to do what Ripley County tax dollars can afford.”

County Council has been working on a new raise structure for the county. A spokesperson tells Eagle Country 99.3 that council is looking into the emergency road tax. Ripley County is currently one of the few counties in the state that don't have it. The spokesperson continued by saying "we haven't raised taxes in years but it appears we'll have to."

Ripley County residents are invited to attend the next county council meeting on Monday, March 20 at 6:00 p.m. in the Ripley County Annex Building. Attendees will hear both sides of the matter.