Cullman County Sheriff Mike Rainey is seen during a press conference in 2010. Pictured, from left, in back are Cullman City Police Assistant Chief Craig Green, Cullman County Narcotics Enforcement Team (CNET) Director Joey Cone and former Cullman County Commission chairman James Graves.

First-term Cullman County Sheriff Mike Rainey has fought and apparently won a legal battle over his salary with a recent Alabama Attorney General opinion that says he is entitled to the same pay as his predecessor, former sheriff Tyler Roden, who served 16 years.

The decision means the county must work with Rainey, who is currently making $63,248.38 annually, to calculate how much back pay he is owed since assuming office Jan. 2011.

Rainey asked Attorney General Luther Strange if he was entitled to receive the same base salary as Roden — who left office making $67,100.28 annually  — along with all pay raises he received while in office. Additionally, Rainey asked if he was entitled to back pay, should 6 percent be deducted from that amount to be held in the county’s general fund for his participation in the state’s supernumerary retirement program.  

“This Office has answered similar inquiries in the past,” the opinion stated. “In those matters, this Office determined that a successor to an elected position that is compensated in accordance with the (Omnibus) Bill is entitled to the base salary established by that Bill, as well as any merit increases, cost-of-living increases, or other increases given to the previous public official that are not based on the length of service or experience.”

Rainey initially deferred questions about the opinion and the issue of his back pay to his attorney Champ Crocker. In a statement, Crocker said shortly after taking office, the Alabama Sheriffs Association informed Rainey that he was the only newly elected Alabama sheriff who was being paid less than his predecessor, with his salary being “several thousand dollars less” than Roden’s.

 “It is our understanding that since 2011, the County Commission has budgeted Sheriff Rainey’s salary to match the former Sheriff’s salary —  it just has not been fully paid,” Crocker wrote in the statement to The Times. “We are working with the County Commission to settle this matter in accordance with the law and look forward to a resolution very soon.”  

Enacted in Oct. 2000, the Omnibus Pay Raise Bill set out guidelines for compensation of certain local elected officials, including sheriff, county commissioners, probate judges, tax assessors, revenue commissioners and license commissioners. It established minimum pay for sheriff’s at $50,000.

Rainey later on Friday spoke to The Times and said: “I’m just going by what Bob Timmons told me … I was in a meeting in February of 2011 with 14 other sheriffs. He asked us to raise our hand if we were making less money than our predecessor; I looked around the room and I was the only one who raised my hand. Before that time, I didn’t think anything about it. He sent me an opinion from Baldwin County and told me to take it to the commission. I’ve never sued anyone in my life.

“This is not about the money, it’s about the law and about the principle. I’m going to work for your rights and like my rights should be respected too.

“It’s not a sense of entitlement. The association brought it to my attention, and I brought it to the commission who didn’t honor it. We filed for an AG opinion and that’s where we are on it.

“Look at the AG’s opinion, that’s all I can tell anyone. I’m not raising cain… Why am I the only one in the state who is not getting paid what the last sheriff was.

“There were 14 Republican sheriffs elected all in the room at this meeting, and I was the only one who raised my hand, and Mr. Timmons said it wasn’t right. It’s still pending.”

Roden said when he took office in Jan.1995, he starting at the minimum $35,000 plus received a $3,000 annual stipend that was paid in monthly installments of $250. After the Omnibus bill was passed, Roden’s pay went to $50,000, and over his four consecutive terms, he received a number of pay raises, bringing his total salary to $67,000.

Since Rainey has been sheriff, the county has passed just one cost-of-living adjustment of 3 percent in 2012.

Former Commission Chairman James Graves said the commission consulted the Alabama Department of Examiners of Public Accounts about the pay issue after Rainey brought it to its attention. Graves said the auditors determined the sheriff wasn’t entitled to the same pay as Roden because pay raises previously given to county employees and officials were classified as merit raises, even though nearly everyone employed by the county received them.

“They were meant as cost-of-living adjustments. It was simply the terminology — meritorious —  that was used,” Graves said. “I have to side with Sheriff Rainey on this because I think newly elected officials should get the same pay the person before them was making.”

Graves said he fell into the same situation when he was in office because he did not start making the same salary as outgoing commission chairman Wiley Kitchens.

At Tuesday’s commission meeting, County Attorney Heath Meherg said the county’s auditors told him the recent attorney general opinion would “trump” their opinion on the issue.

“Once the calculations are made, then that figure will come back to the commission for approval at another meeting,” Meherg said.

Rainey has 10 years of service in law enforcement prior to becoming sheriff, for a total of nearly 13 years. To be eligible for supernumerary retirement, a sheriff must have either 16 years of service in law enforcement, 12 of which have been served as sheriff, and be at least 55 years old or have 12 years of service in law enforcement, four of which served as sheriff, and be permanently disabled with proof from three doctors.

Cullman County Sheriff pay    

Mike Rainey    $61,406.28 (starting salary- 2011)    $63,248.38    (Current salary)

Tyler Roden    $35,000 (starting salary- 1995)    $67,100.28 (Ending salary- 2010)

AG Opinion Rainey

Tiffeny Owens can be reached at towens@cullmantimes.com or 256-734-2131, ext. 135. Lauren Estes contributed to this report.