Supervisors approved the hire of Cody Harris as deputy for the Webster County Sheriff’s Office. Harris is the first hire the department has made under new Sheriff Luke Fleener.

“This is an exciting moment for our department,” Fleener said. “(Harris) brings a great work ethic to our department and will be a great fit.”

Harris, who has served as a patrol officer with the Fort Dodge Police Department for the last eight years, previously served for three years with the Crawford County Sheriff’s Department. He has six years of experience with the county’s Regional Tactical Unit.

Based on his qualifications, Fleener recommended starting Harris at pay step 3 of local union agreements, putting his beginning pay at $62,500, which supervisors approved.

“In our current environment of law enforcement, this isn’t the most prolific job people are anxious to apply for,” Fleener said, citing the small handful of candidates fielded even for larger departments like the Ames Police Department and Urbandale Police Department. “All of (those departments) would beg for the caliber of this candidate to work for them.”

In a first step towards keeping promises made on the campaign trail, Fleener said a priority for the department will be recruiting candidates with over 10 years of experience that can immediately impact the Sheriff’s Office’s operations. Other competing departments, like the Ottumwa Police Department, offer signing bonuses of $10,000 for candidates like the new deputy, with similarly competitive starting pay rates.

“That experience needs to be recognized,” he said. “It hasn’t always been done that way with our department, but I think at some point, there had to be a line drawn that said we recognize qualified candidates.”

“I truly believe that our sheriff’s department can be a star on the map of Iowa,” to attract high quality law enforcement candidates, Fleener added.

But even with pay above what Harris would normally start at, the sheriff said the amount of savings gleaned from experience already under his belt, which would normally cost the department substantial amounts of time and money to earn, make the higher starting pay worth the cost. Harris’ experience as an active member of a tactical unit, for example, is worth thousands.

“I think it’s a wash,” the sheriff said. “We have to be competitive and offer incentives.”

“He’ll be a great asset to your department,” said Supervisor Bob Thode, who worked with Harris for five years.