The Guthrie County Supervisors met in regular session Tuesday.

The Board approved payroll change notices for full-time jailers Kaylin Small and Jason Heman, as they have completed the six month probationary period. The Board also approved adding another jailer position. The Board then heard an update from Jail Administrator Jesse Swensen, who said that bringing inmates from other counties was starting to make the County money, and that he projected that by the end of the year it would result in a gain of $300,000 in revenue. Swensen requested from the Board to have $80,000 of that revenue flow back to the jail, to cover the salary of the additional jailer, and to give a $2 an hour raise to current staff for retention reasons.

Board Chair Supervisor Brian Johnson made a motion to add a position for another jailer, and it was approved unanimously. After some discussion, Supervisor Johnson motioned to approve a $1.20 per hour increase to pay for jailers, and it was approved in a 3-2 split vote. Supervisors Mike Dickson and JD Kuster both said that while they agreed that the jailers deserved compensation for the dangerous work they do, the timing of asking for the raise was off since it is the middle of the fiscal year, and the principle of fair treatment. Supervisor Dickson mentioned that by doing this, the door is opened for other departments to ask for the same things expecting approval.

The Board then approved the Guthrie County Fairground Sewer Project first pay request, and discussed key card entry for the courthouse. A decision on the key cards could not be made, as the item was not on the agenda for action, but it will be visited again in the future.