AMITE — New Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff Gerald Sticker is making some changes to the office.

In the past few years under the administration of Sheriff Sticker’s predecessor Daniel Edwards, there were controversial issues under his watch, including multiple escaped inmates.

When Sticker was sworn into office, he said he planned to make changes to the parish jail to prevent the recurrence of escapees. He says his biggest current problem is employee retention.

Since taking office, four people have left the agency. In the time between his election and taking on the title of sheriff, 68 people have parted ways with the sheriff's office. 

“We’ll hire a young man or woman that comes in and becomes state certified and they’re leaving us after they get the POST-certification, after we invest in training," Sheriff Sticker said. "They’re leaving to work for other police departments and other sheriff's offices for more money."

His solution is to increase pay by 12 to 15 percent depending on employees' rank and tenure. The sheriff said the agency was able to reorganize salaries after long-time, highly-paid employees retired. 

Even with the pay increase, Sticker said he is not done with changes to the office. He says he is still working on making lasting changes and ensuring his administration is responsible while spending the influx of cash.

"In the grand scheme of things most of them will be making somewhere between 14 to 15 dollars an hour and even that’s not enough in 2024,” Sticker said.