Alex Kienlen and Bill Smith
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Recent conflicts between the governor’s office and a state board have led a former cabinet member to be one of the highest-paid government employees in Arkansas, even after a pay cut.
Former Secretary of Corrections Joe Profiri had a salary of $210,000.13, the 19th highest in the state, before being fired by the Board of Corrections earlier in January.
Shortly after his termination, Profiri was hired by the governor’s office as a consultant, and his new annual salary of $201,699.89 was approved by a legislative council Friday morning.
That salary represents a dividing line in state government. If Profiri’s salary were $201,700, it would have needed to be approved by the entire legislature. The 11-cent difference meant it could be approved at the committee level.
So, who does come in with the highest-paying government job in Arkansas? That title goes to Dr. Theodore Brown, the Chief Medical Examiner at the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory, who has an annual salary of $376,722.32. In fact, Brown and five of the associate medical examiners at the lab have the top six salaries in the state.
Profiri’s new salary exactly matches two other state officials, Department of Higher Education head Kenneth Warden and Legislative Auditor R.A. Norman, with the trio coming in tied with the 29th highest salaries in the state.
Arkansas Department of Health director Dr. Jennifer Dillaha is the highest-paid state agency head at $256,509.97, followed closely by ARDOT Director Lorie Tudor at $250,796 and Secretary of Education Jacob Oliva at $249,999.98.
While she leads the state government, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders is the 353rd highest-paid employee at $163,501.20 per year. Lt. Gov. Leslie Rutledge is at the 12,849th spot on the list with a salary of $48,105.60, while Attorney General Tim Griffin, holding Rutledge’s former job, is listed at the 424th position with a salary of $150,745.68.
While state government salaries are available at Transparency.Arkansas.gov, there are more state employees listed in other systems. The University of Arkansas System lists salaries through its Open Checkbook system. A review here shows college athletics is a lucrative field.
Razorbacks head football coach Sam Pittman is listed at $5,299,999.96, the highest-paid person in the UA system. Right behind him is head men’s basketball coach Eric Musselman at $4,356,299.92, while Hogs baseball skipper Dave Van Horn brings in $1,564,600 to put him in fifth place on the list.
Administrators seem to do well in terms of salary as well. Vice Chancellor of Athletics Hunter Yurachek’s $1,549,999.96 salary is the sixth highest in the UA System, ahead of University of Arkansas Chancellor Charles F. Robinson at $501,399.95. Dr. Cam Patterson, the chancellor at UAMS, has the system’s 10th-highest salary at $1,250,000.04.
The good news for the UA System employees is that they have no term limits.
