PAWNEE CITY - Some residents of a Southeast Nebraska County are fearful of losing county law enforcement coverage, without action to bolster pay and resources.


Two Pawnee County Sheriff’s Officers met with the Pawnee County Commission Tuesday, concerned over the loss of a full-time deputy to another department and comparative low pay.


Sheriff Braden Lang’s Department is down to a chief deputy and one other full-time deputy. "Essentially, my guys are making 42 dollars an hour in overtime, but Beatrice P.D....they could go over there and start at 43 dollars an hour. The current hourly rate for my chief deputy is $27.80. For the second-in-command, it's a little over $27. Starting pay at the prison, Johnson County and some of these other agencies is $30-plus."


The sheriff said he wasn’t surprised by public support expressed at the county commission meeting for better law enforcement resources, from residents like Chris Rohrbaugh, of Steinauer, who said good law enforcement and remaining competitive is important….even with additional taxes.


"The sheriff's department at this point, is probably facing more challenges than they ever had, in this county's history...as far as crime coming into the nation and especially in the rural areas. The reason that we elected a sheriff is because he knows more about the business than we do. And so, I would stand in support of whatever they feel is necessary."


Pawnee County Chief Deputy John Samuelson and Deputy Taylor Bredemeier told commissioners they’ve worked as much as 160 hours over a two-week pay period, because of the staff shortage. Samuelson saying it’s time the county take action.  "We all kind of start relatively close...within a few dollars, when you include Nemaha County, Johnson County, Richardson County....even Gage County. But then beyond that, we're flat-lined. There's nothing to keep me here...there's nothing to keep Deputy Bredemeier here. Everybody else is doing something. They figured it out, the last couple of years....we haven't."


Pawnee County Commission Chairman Ron Seitz says the county has improved compensation in the department in the past several years, but with a low property valuation and inability to raise additional tax revenue….it puts Pawnee County in a squeeze.  "I know you can't put safety, as far as people's lives...a dollar amount on it...but if we get extra deputies, the cars and everything...with what I figured, we cannot even tax enough, to get to there."


Deputy Bredemeier said it’s been difficult to get a break from duty, being down one full-time officer. "When I can jump over to the next county and now my call load has been literally reduced because they have twelve deputies...a twelfth of what I do...that's pretty tempting, for more pay and a hiring bonus...it's really tempting."


Sheriff Lang says small county sheriff’s departments face similar challenges, trying to keep serving the public. "And, the smaller the agency, the bigger effect and the worse it is when you lose one, single person. We have a turnover of about one person every year and a half. And, it takes up to two years to even get an applicant. How to you fix that?"


County Commissioner LaVon Heidemann says the sheriff’s department does a good job and he respects its members….but adds that the county doesn’t have the resources to meet the deputies demands for higher pay.