Due to salary constraints in the county’s current budget, Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr. and Shelby County Trustee Regina Newman are individually suing the administration of Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris
Last month, the cases, known as “salary petitions,” were filed in Shelby County Circuit and Chancery courts, requesting the restoration of millions of dollars to finance vacant positions in both agencies.
The planned spending of $67 million that was left out of the county’s $1.7 billion consolidated budget is what Bonner’s lawsuit is requesting.
The cases culminate a long-running battle over multiple recent budget seasons, during which Harris managed the county budget, in part, by enacting “salary restrictions” that defund open jobs among elected officials and in various administration departments.
Both the sheriff’s office and the trustee’s office are not entitled to any relief or restoration of funds, according to the Harris administration’s legal replies to each case.
