TWRA meeting today

[Jcalder]

No TWRA has a habit of moving the pay scale and just moving the officers pay to the step above their pay. Most officers with 8 years or more probably averaged a $25-50 dollar a month pay raise when the scale was moved. When I had 2 years of service, the pay scale moved. I was making 2 steps below officers with 25 years. Next pay scale adjustment with 9 years officers went to step 2. Officers with 10+ years all went to step 3. It took officers with 9 years of service 19 years to top out on a 10 step pay plan. This not only affects current pay but also retirement. With the last pay scale movement officers with 8 years or less went to step 1. I have talked to officers that were topped out that only got about $ 25-30/ month. Troopers that are on the same pay plan got 35% across the board. Basically TWRA officers are the Rosie O'Donnell stepchildren of state law enforcement.

I get it. I work in govt. Our pay scale recently changed and I'll never top out, at least without lots of help. But it sounds as though every 2 years they give a raise. Better than factory work, but certainly not what it should be

 

[mike243]

Is the pay different from the troopers due to the way TWRA is funded?

 

[Biggun4214]

It's impossible to lump a whole county into 1 set of rules. Especially extremely large counties. Cause I can promise you Southern Greene county and Northern Greene county are night and day in deer numbers. But I don't know if TWRA would be able to manage and have different harvest rules for separate parts of a county. Even though I believe that is the proper way to manage a deer herd. Just think if a population a vary drastically from property to property. Than it's guaranteed to be different 60 miles away in a different part of the county.

Cherokee National Forest doe season is different than the rest of the county. Back in the 80's some county's had 3 different sets of regulations. One portion had x limit, another portion had y limit and another portion would be closed.

 

[Biggun4214]

Is the pay different from the troopers due to the way TWRA is funded?

That's a question for the Staff at the central office.

 

[TboneD]

Imagine having a public land (Federal) neighbor where the managers were intentionally trying to kill all the deer. That was not helpful, as they were highly effective at it. Thankfully, they did away with those rules a couple of years ago and the deer population is finally bouncing back.

Sounds like the refuge that tried "earn a buck."

 

[mike243]

I figured the disparity in pay might be due to that, troopers come out of the general fund and twra funds for the wardens. whatever it is I'm sure it works out to be low $ per hour. most folks with a degree wont work that hard.

 

[DeerCamp]

Glad they killed them and not the farmers.

Ideally, nobody would be killing 18 deer off 120 acres, but i concede the point.

 

[WestTn Huntin man]

Anyone watch the meeting today? Noone mentioned straight wall cartridges during muzzleloader season. or a break in the rifle season, did look like the 3 bucks limit in CWD is toast and the Centerfire rifles won't be coming out until rifle opening day like the rest of the state. 50 permits at PI. May have done away the Milan hunt, they moved over that part kinda quickly. I need to rewatch the meeting, I might not be remembering correctly. Oh well CWD still has earn a buck I think. Jakes are bearded turkeys again, 3 bird limit.

Thanks for the recap.

 

[Biggun4214]

I figured the disparity in pay might be due to that, troopers come out of the general fund and twra funds for the wardens. whatever it is I'm sure it works out to be low $ per hour. most folks with a degree wont work that hard.

It's my understanding that if a trooper was to transfer to TWRA their pay would not change. Example, if a trooper with 10 years of service transferred and was making $95K their pay would stay the same, even with officers with 25+ years were making $75k.
I've heard rumors that the degree requirement for TWRA may be waived and several troopers are talking about transferring.
Talk about a morale booster!!!!

 

[Biggun4214]

Ideally, nobody would be killing 18 deer off 120 acres, but i concede the point.

We averaged killing 8-10 deer a year off of 100 or so acres in East Tennessee for about 10 years with no adverse effect. Buck sightings and quality improved.

 

[DayDay]

Glad they killed them and not the farmers.

Why would anybody kill the farmers?

 

[BSK]

It's impossible to lump a whole county into 1 set of rules. Especially extremely large counties. Cause I can promise you Southern Greene county and Northern Greene county are night and day in deer numbers. But I don't know if TWRA would be able to manage and have different harvest rules for separate parts of a county. Even though I believe that is the proper way to manage a deer herd. Just think if a population a vary drastically from property to property. Than it's guaranteed to be different 60 miles away in a different part of the county.

I've seen it vastly different just 5 miles away.

And no, the TWRA can't micro-manage at the sub-county level. Then throw in that hunters are complaining about just two different turkey limits for the whole state. "Just make it the same for everybody!" is what I keep hearing. Think of the uproar over 150 different sub-county units.

 

[BSK]

Sounds like the refuge that tried "earn a buck."

Yup. Darn most effective deer slaughter system I've ever seen. Worked like a charm.

 

[TX300mag]

Ideally, nobody would be killing 18 deer off 120 acres, but i concede the point.

Why would anybody kill the farmers?

 

[hoghunter65]

Again, not even close.

Let's look at what may be an average fishing without a license case:

The officer writes the citation. He then must complete an arrest warrant and file it at the county courthouse. Probably a minimum of an hour to do that.

Then, because even if the violator pays the ticket, they have the option of going to court. If the officer isn't there to prosecute the case, it likely is thrown out. The officer will try to have multiple cases set on the same day. Regardless, probably another 3-4 hours of time tied up (minimum).

If the person pays the citation, or if found guilty in court, I suspect the total cost to the defendant now likely is $350-400. That sounds like a big payday for TWRA. Again, wrong.

Out of that $350, the actual fine on the charge will most likely be $10. Out of that, TWRA gets $4. The rest goes (by law) to the county school fund. The remaining $340 are court costs, with a significant portion going to the judges retirement fund. Out of the court costs, TWRA usually receives a $25 arrest fee.

So, TWRA nets $29 for maybe 4-5 hrs of the officer's time. It doesn't come close to even paying for the time to write and prosecute the violation.

So, just an ignorant take to even think that TWRA would set regulations trying to trick people into violating them.

Never mind .. When you don't go to Court how's that not pure profit ? No time required of the TWRA 's officers time so whatever they get is profit ...well little bookkeeping. If this is true then if I'm fixing to get a ticket I'll just offer $50 donation !!

I was hunting on a lease where someone had put out some corn, this was a bow hunt and I was at least 75yds from it, didn't know it was there, game warden said since he couldnt prove that I put it out and I couldnt prove I didnt he wtote me up for hunting a baited area, fine was 25.00, went the next day to pay it, even though I didnt go to court I also had to pay another 225.00 in court cost.

 

[scn]

I was hunting on a lease where someone had put out some corn, this was a bow hunt and I was at least 75yds from it, didn't know it was there, game warden said since he couldnt prove that I put it out and I couldnt prove I didnt he wtote me up for hunting a baited area, fine was 25.00, went the next day to pay it, even though I didnt go to court I also had to pay another 225.00 in court cost.

Court costs are accessed whether you go to court or just pay the citation. Only the judge has the ability to deal with the fine/cost dollars.

 

[hoghunter65]

Court costs are accessed whether you go to court or just pay the citation. Only the judge has the ability to deal with the fine/cost .

Court costs are accessed whether you go to court or just pay the citation. Only the judge has the ability to deal with the fine/cost dollars.

Don't get me wrong I didn't like having to pay that fine, it just seems to me the fine was too low.

 

[TheLBLman]

Don't get me wrong I didn't like having to pay that fine, it just seems to me the fine was too low.

Don't the state politicians (NOT TWRA) set the amount of the fines?

In many other states, the fines for poaching & other wildlife crimes are much, much higher than they are in TN.

 

[scn]

Don't the state politicians (NOT TWRA) set the amount of the fines?

In many other states, the fines for poaching & other wildlife crimes are much, much higher than they are in TN.

Yes, the fine ranges for all misdemeanors were set by a legislative sentencing commission and approved by the legislature. TWRA has zero say in the process.

The range for some of the Class B misdemeanors can go up to $500, but it is EXTREMELY rare to see a judge go past the starting point of the range. They can also include jail time. Again, it is rare to see that used by a judge. Wildlife crime is largely viewed as a victimless crime.

 

[Wildcat#32]

w



The real discussion wasn't about what officers make or court time. It started about all the money TWRA made on citations.
Also the average county Wildlife Officer isn't making $75K. If that's the average salary across the board then it includes sergeants, lieutenants, and captains. When the last pay plan was announced an officer with 8 years was making the same as an officer starting the academy.

actually i think it was stated the officer was only making the twra $10 or $20 for doing 2 or three hours work processing a ticket!!
also i apologize. the AVERAGE salary is 76,206 for a warden!! AVERAGE!!!! i previously stated 75,000!! my mistake!!