County Manager Ryan Whitson was directed to come back to commissioners on Sept. 8 with salary survey quotes. Whitson said normally a survey will take three to four months to complete and cost around $20,000.

Melton said he was approached by one jailer who said he is resigning Sept. 1 because with his pay he almost qualifies for food stamps. Commissioners also found out Monday that there were eight telecommunicators who are paid the same grade as jailers.

Polk County jailers start at $22,515, while neighboring counties are higher pay, including $25,325 in Rutherford County.

&uot;I think that&squo;s absurd,&uot; Melton said.

Pack said requests for raises should have been done during budget time and he hates to keep piecemealing raises for separate departments.

Pack also asked how many beds the Rutherford County Jail has compared to Polk County. Polk County has 25 beds compared to Rutherford County&squo;s 200, Whitson said.

The county recently gave raises to deputies and paramedics, a raise that Melton said he thought included jailers.

The county also just implemented a two percent across the board raise on July 1 and another 2.5 percent will come on Jan. 1, 2009.