Adrian Hedden
El Rito Media
achedden@currentargus.com

Less than a month into his new job as undersheriff, former Eddy County Sheriff Mark Cage was awarded a 47% pay raise by the County Board of County Commissioners.

All five commissioners voted in favor of the increase at their Tuesday, Jan. 21, meeting, hiking the undersheriff’s annual salary nearly $55,000 from $114,254 to $168,850.

The raise was proposed by Sheriff Matt Hutchinson, who assumed the office earlier this month after being elected in the November 2024 general election. Cage, who was ineligible to run for re-election as sheriff due to term limits, and Hutchinson swapped jobs when the new sheriff was sworn in Jan. 7. Hutchinson was undersheriff when Cage had the top job.

During his presentation before the commission ahead of the vote, Hutchinson, whose salary is $153,500, said that Cage’s experience as sheriff should justify higher pay.

The proposal came about a month after county commissioners voted to increase pay for the sheriff, commissioners and county treasurer. The commission was empowered to do so by New Mexico Constitutional Amendment 4, which the state’s voters approved in the general election last year.

Passage of the amendment transferred authority for setting salaries for the county’s elected officials from the state Legislature to county commissioners.

Under the new pay scale, the county sheriff’s annual salary almost doubled from $78,000 to $153,500; the country treasurer’s salary jumped from $75,000 to $129,000; and commissioners granted themselves an $18,500 a year increase from $26,000 to $44,500.

Hutchinson argued that Cage, who served two four-year terms as Eddy County sheriff, brought with him to the post knowledge of the inner workings of the sheriff’s office. He said the undersheriff manages day-to-day operation of the agency, all personnel issues and can sign any documents the sheriff can sign.

The Eddy County Sheriff’s Office has 78 sworn officers and about 14 to 15 civilian employees, Hutchinson said. When fully staffed, the agency would have 100 personnel. District 5 Commissioner and commission chair Sarah Cordova said this made the sheriff’s office the county’s largest department.

Hutchinson also pointed to salary ranges from area “executive” law enforcement agents such as the Carlsbad chief of police – about $150,000 to $164,000 – and the Lea County undersheriff, set at $144,000 with annual increases.

“I’m wanting to show that Eddy County currently has an undersheriff with a vast amount of experience, coming in from sheriff,” Hutchinson said. “This (pay increase) is market value for our area.”

Eddy County Manager Mike Gallagher said the county should reevaluate all its staff positions, potentially offering additional raises to department heads and employees in the future.

“What you’re seeing here is the need to have competitive salaries for the sheriff’s office, and I believe that extends to all county employees,” Gallagher said. “This comes on the tail of the adjustment for elected officials. I believe what the sheriff presented hits the mark.”

District 1 Commissioner Ernie Carlson said that under Cage’s leadership, the sheriff’s office saw improvement and expansion in efforts to combat crime in Eddy County. He said this justified the pay bump. Carlson made the motion to approve the proposal, seconded by District 3 Commissioner Philip Troost.

“I think under Sheriff Cage we moved our sheriff’s office so far forward,” Carlson said. “That is all because of all the things our current sheriff and the undersheriff did while he was in office. I think to get somebody with his knowledge of how our sheriff’s office works, it’s a small price to pay.”

Although he seconded Carlson’s motion and voted in favor of Cage’s raise, Troost voiced some reservation that future undersheriffs could be underqualified for the higher salary.

“What I’m afraid of is doing this and allowing the next undersheriff to walk into something that he is not qualified for,” Troost said.