Spokane County Commission opts to continue offering signing bonuses to help fill vacant deputy positions

New hires at the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office will continue to be offered signing bonuses of up to $25,000 as the agency seeks to fill roughly 35 vacant positions.

The Spokane County Commission last week voted unanimously to extend the hiring incentives for another year. The program will not impact the county’s budget, since the cost of the bonuses is offset by the money dedicated to the salaries and benefits of those vacant positions, according to the county.

The program started in 2021 under former Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich in an attempt to attract applicants from other law enforcement agencies, as well as those new to the profession. Like many law enforcement agencies throughout the country, the sheriff’s office was shorthanded and struggling to find enough deputies.

The bonuses started at $15,000 for lateral hires – experienced officers coming to Spokane County from other agencies. The county commission in March 2022 approved Knezovich’s request to increase that to $25,000 for laterals and $10,000 for inexperienced deputies.

Last week, the county commission agreed to extend the $25,000 and $10,000 incentives under updated parameters intended to improve retention and prevent applicants from securing their bonus, then leaving.

The sheriff’s office had initially given new hires half of the bonus upfront and half at the end of their first year, but the program has since been changed to provide new hires with half of their bonus at the start with the rest disbursed incrementally after they complete the agency’s probationary period, which typically lasts about a year, said sheriff’s office spokesman Cpl. Mark Gregory.

Both lateral transfers and fresh deputies who have completed their probationary period will receive their remaining bonus balance in 24 installments, paycheck by paycheck, to be paid over the course of two years.

Gregory said the program has been helpful in attracting applicants and ensuring those who are hired end up staying with the sheriff’s office.

“That signing bonus helps a lot with moving and getting families to the area,” Gregory said.

The office does not have data on retention since the policy was changed, but Undersheriff Kevin Richey told The Spokesman-Review last year that about 20% of new hires wound up leaving the agency before the disbursement schedule was altered.

Anecdotally, Gregory said the new incremental model seems to be working. He said it motivates new hires to do their due diligence before applying, so they don’t end up reneging after arriving in Spokane County and finding the job or the area may not be the right fit.

“It causes people to make more informed decisions instead of being rash up front,” Gregory said.

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office is not the only law enforcement agency offering signing bonuses to assist with recruitment; Gregory said they need to do so to stay competitive in the job market.

Some cities and counties are offering much larger amounts, such as the city of Renton in King County, which offers lateral hires a signing bonus of $40,000 to join the Renton Police Department. The Alameda Police Department in California offers $75,000 bonuses – the highest for law enforcement agencies nationwide.

Gregory said all agencies, including the sheriff’s office, are seeking to hire from the same limited pool of candidates. That has likely led to the competing bonuses now evident in law enforcement job postings nationwide.

The sheriff’s office hired a 10-year low of 17 new deputies last year, down from 38 hires in 2022. The agency consistently had between 20 and 40 vacancies over the past few years due to a wave of retirements and transfers.

Those vacancy numbers are somewhat misleading out of context, however, because the sheriff’s office has gone from 227 authorized deputy positions in 2021 to roughly 250 today.

The agency has put significant money into recruitment efforts to improve those hiring numbers and fill vacant positions. It has created a new website dedicated solely to attracting candidates, launched a signing bonus program for new hires and an extensive advertising campaign.

The sheriff’s office spends $80,000 a year on targeted social media advertising, and another $30,000 annually on billboards in Eastern Washington and North Idaho.

It has also devoted a $100,000 travel budget and a trailer to the recruiting team of 30 deputies who attend job fairs, hiring events for veterans transitioning to civilian life and public safety testing sites.

While there is no financial compensation for either party, Sheriff John Nowels told the county commissioners last week that his agreement to allow the reality TV show “Cops” to film alongside deputies this summer is another recruitment tool .

“It’s a lot harder than 30 years ago when I started,” Gregory said.