NC budget would give raises to officers — and cut hundreds of vacant positions
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- SBI and Alcohol Law Enforcement personnel could receive an average 20.3% raise.
- Correctional officers have an average vacancy rate of about 30%.
- The budget would eliminate 574 FTEs, reducing spending by $40.3 million.
Some of their salaries are comparatively low and vacancies are high, but many employees in public safety state agencies and local law enforcement should see raises or bonuses in their futures.
When leaders in the state legislature released their final budget proposal a year late on Tuesday, it included raises and bonuses for various state employees, including officers of the State Bureau of Investigation, Alcohol Law Enforcement and the State Highway Patrol.
State Bureau of Investigation and Alcohol Law Enforcement officers could see an average raise of 20.3% when longevity-based step increases are included, Republican leaders said in laying out the plan. For SBI civilian personnel, such as administrative and technical positions, the budget proposes an average raise of 27.5%.
State Highway Patrol troopers could see an average 17.7% raise with step increases, lawmakers say, and civilian personnel in the agency could see an 11.5% raise. Under the proposed budget, the agency would have a new salary schedule ranging from a starting salary of $63,250 to $92,290 after six years of experience.
Sworn local law enforcement officers could get a $1,750 bonus.
The comprehensive budget proposal also includes other public-safety provisions that are not strictly raises or bonuses, including policies that lawmakers want to be enacted through the budget bill, bypassing the normal process of passing a standalone bill.
Department of Adult Correction
About a fifth of the positions in the Department of Adult Correction are vacant. The average vacancy rate for correctional officers is 30%, while some prisons are seeing rates closer to 60%, according to the agency.
The agency has also said that North Carolina ranks last across the nation in terms of corrections officer salary.
The budget proposes an average 15.4% raise for correctional officers, which includes step increases. For probation and parole officers, it proposes an average 10.1% raise when step increases are included.
The proposed budget would require the Department of Adult Correction to eliminate any position in non-healthcare divisions if it has been vacant for more than one year from the section’s effective date. The provision includes a limit preventing the elimination of more than half of any one division’s total number of vacant positions.
The budget also specifies that the savings that come from eliminating vacancies will not go directly toward increasing employees’ salaries if they are at a certain point on the state’s standard compensation plan.
Senate leader Phil Berger told reporters on Tuesday that the vacant positions do not need the funding because “they don’t have bodies in the positions.”
He said agencies should “come forward with your budget on those items” and “let’s go through the appropriate appropriations process to actually ... authorize those sorts of spends.”
According to budget documents, 574 full-time equivalent positions would be eliminated, amounting to a $40.3 million spending reduction.
One full-time equivalent position represents a job that would be filled by one full-time employee.
Across the Department of Adult Correction, there are 229 vacancies for nurses — about 33% of positions.
The proposed budget instructs the agency to report nurse staffing information to a legislative committee, including the number of filled and vacant positions, the locations of those positions and the use of contracted services for nurses.
A separate provision allows the agency to take funds meant for contracted positions and convert them to support permanent positions “when it is determined to promote security, generate cost-savings, and improve health care quality,” according to the proposed budget.
Other public safety provisions
The proposed budget would require that the adjutant general, who leads the state’s National Guard, be confirmed by the General Assembly after an appointment by the governor, which is currently all that is required by state law.
The budget proposal directs the Department of Public Safety to move out of the Archdale Building on North Salisbury Street and instead take over a building currently housing the North Carolina Education Lottery on Capital Boulevard.
The state budget bill, which is a year overdue, was published on Tuesday. Lawmakers are scheduled to hold votes on the bill over the next few days, and will adjourn ahead of the Fourth of July holiday.
This story was originally published June 30, 2026 at 6:59 PM with the headline "NC budget would give raises to officers — and cut hundreds of vacant positions."
