Why the Shelby County DA's Office pay discrepancies could be problematic for Memphis

There is a pay gap in the Shelby County District Attorney's Office between employees doing some of the exact same work, at the exact same experience level.

According to Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy, the discrepancy is a "luck of the draw type thing" that needs to be corrected quickly, or the lack of retention and hiring incentives could exacerbate the already heavy load of cases that prosecutors are taking on within his office

That difference in pay, which can result in a $15,000 to $20,000 annual difference in salary for employees at the same level, comes down to whether they are paid by the state or paid by Shelby County. Some county employees make up to $53,000 less than the state rate.

It's not a new problem, Mulroy said, but it is one that became a much larger issue when the state authorized a 15% to 20% salary increase for state employees in district attorneys' offices in 2023.

"We have an acute problem because my senior staff has identified at least 13 county prosecutors who are actively looking for other jobs because of this disparity," Mulroy said. "I fear that if we do not take action now, in this fiscal year, then we're going to see people leaving. Everyone says that we've got to work on the (case) backlog and that public safety is our number one priority. If they mean it, then they will fix it.

"This is a matter of not only public safety, but I think, fundamental fairness. It's the principle of equal pay for equal work."

Mulroy has asked the Shelby County Board of Commissioners for $2.25 million in the 2024 fiscal year to immediately provide comparable raises for county prosecutors. However, $965,000 of that money would go to Shelby County's Office of the Public Defender.

The resolution Mulroy submitted to the commission also mentions including about $3.1 million annually moving forward, which includes sustained raises for prosecutors, victim and witness coordinators, investigators and secretaries.

Why the pay disparity exists

Being a county or state employee is essentially luck, according to Mulroy, and is based on which opening is available when someone applies. The format dates back decades, he said, when Shelby, Davidson, Knox and Hamilton counties all needed additional prosecutors. At the time, all employees in DAs offices were state employees. To fix that problem, the counties decided to supplement with county positions.

General sessions court, which is a county court, would have county attorneys working cases, and state attorneys would exclusively work in criminal court, where judges are also paid by the state.

About a decade ago, during former Shelby County DA Amy Weirich's tenure, the Shelby County DA's Office switched to a vertical prosecution method. In that method, a prosecutor stays with a case from general sessions to criminal court. This removed the need for attorneys to learn new cases when defendants were indicted. It also meant county and state attorneys were doing, essentially, the same work.

In an effort to cut costs prior to asking for county money, Mulroy told commissioners Wednesday that his office cut about 20 temporary positions from the budget that had not been used and took away a supplement that went towards state-paid supervisors to put it towards raises for county attorneys. That supplement, he said, came from county funds.

Mulroy also said he took a permanent $8,000 pay cut to his salary. Mulroy said he made $176,000 a year when he took office but received a 5% raise alongside all state employees, which the legislature granted. Elected district attorneys were excluded from the 15%-20% raises the legislature implemented in 2023, he said. He said he believes he currently makes $183,000 annually with the pay cut.

The money, according to the resolution, would come from the fund balance of the county's general fund, but Mulroy said he is open to other funding ideas.

In the long term, he said he hopes to convert some of the county jobs into state jobs. That change is supported by the Tennessee District Attorney's Conference, he added.

At the commission meeting Wednesday, multiple members of the DA's office spoke in favor of the county raise. One assistant district attorney said that he has worked in the office for almost 23 years, and the pay discrepancy is a daily conversation in the office.

He also said that the difference in salaries is discouraging for older employees, but severely affects young employees. He said every young attorney he works with talks to him about job opportunities they've been offered, and that they want to stay with the DA's office, but struggle to financially justify it.

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The possibility of 13 prosecutors leaving, which Mulroy said handle about 500 cases a year each, would be difficult for the office to stomach. But both Mulroy and another prosecutor who spoke at the commission said the discrepancy also makes it difficult to hire talented prosecutors.

Commissioners, County Chief Administrative Officer voice concerns about budget impact

In commission Wednesday, Shelby County Chief Administrative Officer Harold Collins said that he is concerned about using the general fund's fund balance to pay for these raises, suggesting that the raises wait until budget season for the 2025 fiscal year rolls around in a few months.

"The question was asked about how did the state come to provide these resources and increases to the state employees," Collins said. "Well, the state had a $4 billion surplus, so they have the money they can give to their state employees. Whereas Shelby County government is, as many of you all know now, the term structurally imbalanced."

Collins went on to say that dipping into the fund balance to pay for the raises could "adversely affect our credit rating, our bond rating and everything else that we're trying to get done."

Mulroy, in that same meeting and a later interview with The Commercial Appeal, said that he was told by Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris that the county would be able to fund the raises.

Commissioner Amber Mills voiced concern over the timing of Mulroy bringing the request before the body, noting that Harris is preparing to hand the commission a proposed budget soon.

Mulroy told The CA he had conversations with commissioners upwards of six months ago, and that Harris was aware of the discrepancies. He said he wanted to implement raises prior to the 2024 budget proceedings, but Harris told him to wait.

"I first brought this up in the very beginning of 2023," Mulroy said in response to Mills' concerns. "I was asked if I could wait until after the budget process was over. Then I was going to go to the commission towards the end of 2023, but then there were some issues about the numbers, and the public defender match, so it got rolled over into January. This was not me trying to deliberately play gamesmanship with time or anything else. I was simply doing what I had been asked to do. In terms of no versus later, you just mentioned, I believe if we don't take action in this fiscal year, I think I'm going to lose people."

Losing people, Mulroy said, would exacerbate the backlog of cases and create more strain on prosecutors. With prosecutors handling about 500 cases a year, he said those vacancies could cause upwards of 6,500 criminal cases to stall.

The commission is slated to vote on the resolution Monday, and Mulroy said voting for the raises "sends a strong message" about the importance of public safety.

"I don't fault any commissioners for asking questions and expressing concerns about the fiscal aspect of this," Mulroy told The CA. "The proof's in the pudding as to what will happen Monday. If the commission is able to approve it, I will be very grateful and I think we will have righted a long-standing wrong that has eroded morale and impaired my ability to recruit and retain. If the commission does approve it on Monday — I think if they do that, it sends a strong message that they're putting their money where their mouth is when they say that public safety is their priority.

"They mean it, and they're backing it up with the kind of resources that we need. If they don't approve it, I fear the message will be received, certainly by people in my office, but also the more widespread public, that the commission isn't really as devoted to public safety as they seem."

Lucas Finton is a criminal justice reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com, or (901)208-3922, and followed on X, formerly known as Twitter, @LucasFinton.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Shelby County DA: internal pay inequities pose crime problem if unfixed