The County's workforce grew from 504 full-time equivalents in 2016 to 730 in 2025, and 412 of those are in public safety. This page shows who the study covers, how the County is organized, and what the County's 296 public class specifications say about its pay structure today.
Voters elect the Board of Commissioners, the Sheriff, Tax Commissioner, Clerk of Superior Court, Probate Judge, Magistrate, Coroner, the Superior Court judges and the District Attorney. The Board appoints the County Administrator, County Attorney and the Board of Assessors, and fifteen departments report to the Administrator. Every County-paid position is in scope, whoever appoints it (RFP Attachment A).
One pay plan has to work for departments the Board directs and for offices run by independently elected officials. We meet each elected official (or the person they name) at the start, interview their supervisors on the same footing as County departments, and show each office its own results before anything goes to the Board. Classification follows the work; who appoints the employee does not change the grade.
| Department or office | Type | 2026 budget line |
|---|---|---|
| Sheriff's Office (enforcement and support; detention center and court services) | Elected office | $25,956,437 |
| Tax Commissioner | Elected office | $2,214,888 |
| Clerk of Superior Court | Elected office | $1,252,436 |
| Probate Court | Elected office | |
| Magistrate Court | Elected office | $1,306,681 |
| Coroner | Elected office | $139,676 |
| Superior Court, Juvenile Court and treatment courts | Court | $1,342,013 |
| District Attorney (Conasauga Circuit) | Court | $1,804,501 |
| Public Defender | Court (appointed) | $1,401,024 |
| Board of Assessors and Assessors Office | Board-appointed | $2,324,571 |
| Elections and Registrar | Board-appointed | $856,251 |
| Fire Department | County department | Fire District fund, $14,045,294 |
| 911 and Emergency Management | County department | $400,646 (E-911 fund, $3,650,964; EMA in the General Fund) |
| County Engineer (Public Works, GIS, MPO, Inspections, Stormwater) | County department | $9,120,169 |
| Parks and Recreation | County department | $2,460,686 |
| Buildings and Grounds | County department | $2,474,756 |
| Information Technology | County department | $1,302,593 |
| Finance | County department | $759,460 |
| Human Resources | County department | $543,229 |
| Senior Center | County department | $586,290 |
| Animal Shelter | County department | $447,469 |
| County Administrator, County Clerk, County Attorney, Planning and Zoning, Transit, Public Relations, Special Projects | County department | $1,005,117 (BOC Admin line shown) |
The published ranges do not all date from the same year. For example, the Deputy Sheriff, Sergeant specification lists a minimum of $35,288, below the $41,600 listed for Detention Officer. That is common when specifications are posted once and the pay plan moves on. The study starts from the County's current pay plan, and one early deliverable is a clean class list: one record per class in use, with its current grade and range, which can also correct these public postings.