MARIES COUNTY — Questions surrounding pay raises, staffing shortages and accumulated compensatory time at Maries County 911 were addressed during a recent interview with Maries County Sheriff Mark Morgan and 911 Director Nicole Bexten, following public discussion at a county commission meeting.

One issue raised publicly involved Bexten claiming she had not received a $2.50 per hour raise. According to payroll records, Bexten has received four pay increases over the past four years.

Bexten was earning $14 per hour before receiving an annual increase in 2022 to $15 per hour. After completing her probationary period later that year, she received an additional $1 per hour, bringing her pay to $16 per hour. Subsequent raises included an increase tied to her promotion to assistant 911 director in 2023 and a countywide adjustment in 2024 that resulted in an increase of $2.50, resulting in her current hourly rate of $19.50 per hour.

Bexten said confusion surrounding her pay stemmed from incremental raises over several years rather than a single adjustment.

“That was over two years ago. That’s why I said I don’t recall a $2.50 raise,” she said.

She also addressed staffing challenges that contribute to accumulated compensatory time, noting that availability among part-time employees is limited.

“Another challenge is that most of the part-time employees have full-time jobs elsewhere, which makes it difficult to get coverage when we need it,” Bexten said.

Staffing levels at the 911 center were also discussed. Maries County 911 currently operates with four full-time dispatchers, though the department is authorized for five positions. The fifth position is generally considered supervisory but is often required to return to shift work when staffing shortages occur.

Morgan said maintaining 24-hour, seven-day coverage with four employees is difficult and often results in dispatchers accumulating compensatory time when employees are sick, on vacation or otherwise unavailable.

“When you have two dispatchers on days and two on nights, if one person is out, somebody has to cover,” Morgan said. “That’s just the reality of running a small department.”

According to figures shared during the interview, current compensatory time balances include 212 hours for Bexten, 156 hours for dispatcher Nakkita Johnson, 116 hours for Elizabeth Thornton and 74 hours for Hope Simon. Morgan said he prefers to keep balances closer to 50 hours but staffing shortages have made that difficult.

Questions were also raised about the use of part-time employees. Morgan said the sheriff’s office does employ part-time staff who are cross-trained as jailers and dispatchers. He said any part-time staff assisting with dispatch duties are paid through the sheriff’s Citizen Safety fund, meaning the expense falls on the sheriff’s department rather than the 911 budget. He said full-time dispatchers are paid through the separate 911 fund, which has its own revenues and expenses.

As far as the decision to use these employees to cut back on compensatory time, Morgan added that his office is not statutorily required to do so.

“Because 911 is its own separate entity. I don’t have to use my part timers for it,” Morgan said. “It’s not any kind of obligation I have. There’s no statutory requirement for the sheriff to have anything to do with 911.”

Morgan said that distinction is why staffing decisions for dispatch coverage carry budget implications beyond the 911 fund itself. Any use of part-time, cross-trained personnel to assist with dispatch operations would require the sheriff’s office to absorb the cost through its Citizen Safety budget, rather than drawing from 911 revenues, which operate as a separate and dedicated funding source.

“I pay for all the part time staff out of citizen safety. Technically they’re jailers, but they have the qualifications to run 911,” Morgan said “I’m paying them as a jailer, but they’re essentially running 911 so that is me contributing to that, even though I don’t have any obligation to do that.”

He also said he does not believe transferring money between funds to offset compensatory time is appropriate and emphasized that neither budget has excess funds available.

Financial data discussed during the interview showed that 911 operations ended 2024 more than $100,000 over budget but finished 2025 under budget by approximately $380. Morgan said the turnaround was achieved through tighter spending controls and increased use of part-time staff where possible.

Citizen Safety spending was also reduced significantly, dropping from approximately $1.28 million in 2024 to about $739,000 in 2025, a more than $300,000 reduction.

Morgan said continued financial pressure is expected, especially with the loss of landline tax revenue and the pending renewal of an existing sales tax that helps fund public safety and county roads. He said failure to renew the tax could result in a loss of approximately $250,000 from the sheriff’s office budget.

“That’s not losing employee raises at that point,” Morgan said. “That’s positions.”

Both Morgan and Bexten emphasized that despite financial and staffing challenges, emergency services will continue to operate.

“This is a no-fail mission,” Morgan said. “When people call, they expect us to be there, and we’re going to make it work.”