Board OKs boosting extra duty OT comp for deputies

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KESQ) - The Board of Supervisors today approved Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco's request to hike overtime extra duty pay rates charged for services at events countywide that require the use of deputies and other personnel.

In a 5-0 vote without comment, the supervisors cleared the way for the sheriff to implement a revised overtime salary schedule that will allow increases to be phased in over the next three fiscal years. The last time the extra duty formulas were changed occurred in fiscal year 2022-23.

The changes reflect the costs borne by the sheriff's department when deputies, investigators, crime scene technicians -- even helicopter mechanics -- perform work outside of their normal schedules, such as for parades, fairs, festivals and other "special events," officials said.

The new rates will apply to school districts, courts and the cities that contract for law enforcement services.   

The cost for a patrol deputy who works extra hours outside of his or her customary assignments is $101.68 per hour currently. Under the revised OT pay schedule, the rate will jump to $118.08 as of May 1. The rate will then be increased gradually until peaking at $130.19 per hour by February 2027, according to documents posted to the board's policy agenda.   

The charge for a sheriff's corporal will go from $108.27 currently to $125.73 per hour on May 1, then rise to $138.62 by February 2027.   

A sergeant's rate will hold at $137.12 from May 2025 to February 2027. A lieutenant's extra duty pay will go from $112.27 now to $163.61 on May 1. However, for the next three fiscal years, that rate will remain unchanged, according to agency documents.

Just over 150 positions -- sworn and non-sworn -- were listed in the revised schedule. Increases were sought for most, but not all, titles and classifications.

The aggregate estimated cost of the increases was estimated at $933,869, none of which will require General Fund appropriations.