Orleans County Chief Administrative Officer Jack Welch announced that the Sheriff, the county, and the Orleans County Sheriff’s Employees Association (OCSEA) have reached agreement on a new three-year contract. The Legislature unanimously approved the agreement at its September 22 meeting. OCSEA represents employees in the Sheriff’s Office who are not deputies, including corrections officers, public safety dispatchers, and clerical staff.
The current OCSEA contract, ratified in 2022, expires this December. The new agreement runs from 2027 through 2029. This was the third and final contract settled with county unions this year, following successful negotiations with the Deputy Sheriff’s Association and CSEA.
“The Legislature is very happy to conclude our third contract negotiation this year, and we commend OCSEA for working collaboratively to reach a deal that is good for their members and fair to taxpayers,” said Welch. “As with our previous contracts, both sides used a list of 13 comparable counties from across the state as a barometer for negotiations, which helped move things along.”
Welch said that, when looking at those comparable numbers, Orleans County was paying Sheriff’s clerical staff, Correction Officers, and Public Safety Dispatchers less than the median of the 13 counties. To address this, in 2027 the county compressed the 2026 salary schedule down to four steps. That move created approximately a 4 percent increase for clerical staff, an 8 percent increase for Correctional Officers, and a 6 percent increase for Public Safety Dispatchers in each step. The county also agreed to a 2.5 percent increase every six months beginning January 2028.
“The contract structure will bring Orleans County to the median wages of the comparable counties in a way that is manageable with our budget constraints,” said Welch.
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