Pay for prosecutors on county agenda

Prosecutors would get slightly lower pay raises that would save Clark County between $150,000 and $200,000 if commissioners approve the agreement today.

Another significant part of the agreement is that prosecutors' pay would be open to negotiations after Jan. 1, County Manager Virginia Valentine said in an e-mail.

The agreement would resolve six months of wrangling between county leaders and the prosecutors association.

Association members couldn't be reached for comment.

As part of the compromise, prosecutors with less than two years on the job would get a 3 percent cost-of-living raise after a one-year probationary period. After Jan. 1 they would be eligible for a 4 percent merit-pay raise instead of an increase of up to 5 percent.

Veteran prosecutors would receive a 2.5 percent merit-pay increase instead of 5 percent. They also would be eligible for a 3 percent cost-of-living raise.

The dispute began in June when commissioners voted to reduce veteran prosecutors' cost-of-living raises to 1 percent from 3 percent to save $311,000. Prosecutors cried foul, saying the county couldn't lower pay raises without first bargaining with the union.

District Judge Michelle Leavitt sided with the union and ordered the county to restore the senior prosecutors' cost-of-living raises. But she also nullified the 4 percent wage increases that the newest 25 prosecutors had received.

Last month, the county was preparing to garnish the younger prosecutors' wages to repay those raises. That would no longer happen under this agreement.

Contact reporter Scott Wyland at swyland@review journal.com or 702-455-4519.