You expect to be paid for your work on payday and Dallas County officials are apologizing for big problems with a new payroll system affecting hundreds of people.
Some were not paid at all. Others were paid too much.
Dallas County Sheriff’s Deputies were the largest portion of 200 county employees affected by the problems at first.
At county courts, some county clerical employees may have been affected, too.
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Friday Dallas County’s top elected official, County Judge Clay Jenkins, confirmed hundreds of outside workers were also not paid in the new payroll system.
“Hundreds of lawyers, but not just lawyers. Expert witnesses, interpreters, everybody that makes the system work that’s not a county employee,” Jenkins said.
The lawyers are court-appointed attorneys who judges assign to defend indigent defendants.
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“It's your money and if you anticipated having your money, you want your money,” Criminal Defense Attorney Heath Harris said.
Harris said he is owed almost $2,000 by Dallas County for work he has submitted for payment.
Douglas Huff with a defense lawyers association said some lawyers are owed $50,000.
Jenkins said checks are being cut for all of the county employees who were not paid at all.
The county hopes to have checks ready for all the outside workers by Friday.
“The computer systems themselves now work together, but there were some hiccups going to a new system,” Jenkins said. “By the time that file went to the system, it was so large that it crashed the system.”
Dallas County has had trouble lately keeping all county offices open during regular hours on all regular business days for lack of employees.
The payroll problems are not an enticement for new employees.
“It’s not and it has my attention and I’m working with the team to get it fixed,” Jenkins said. “On behalf of the county, we’re sorry for the inconvenience and the serious problem with people not getting paid on time.”
Harris said the lawyers are small business people too with bills to pay.
“Just because you’re a lawyer doesn’t mean you don’t live from paycheck to paycheck and when that check is not there it causes problems. And now you’re going to have to rebound,” Harris said.
Dallas County Sheriff’s Association President Chris Dyer said employees are still concerned about whether the next payroll will be stable.
He said all direct deposits were canceled and reapplying will cause a delay.
Jenkins said workers who were overpaid will have money taken out of future payroll but it will be spread out to reduce the payback pain.
