Dallas County is reportedly still behind on paying many of its employees.
The county has been plagued with payroll problems following an update to its financial management system at the end of April that caused the pay request processing system to crash, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Contracted workers, defense attorneys, and roughly 200 county employees have not been paid on time.
“I just want them to be held accountable,” said a Dallas County detention officer, per FOX 4. “I need my money now. I could lose my car.”
The unnamed officer reportedly said he and his coworkers at the Dallas County jail are “tired and burnt out.”
He claimed the county owes him $500 after two of his paychecks in a row did not include his overtime pay.
“Pay day comes, and the money is not there,” he told FOX 4.
“They need us tonight,” he added, explaining that he and some of his coworkers must work two 16-hour shifts twice a week. “We can’t say we’ll work for you in a couple of weeks. No, it’s tonight. It’s the same with our paychecks,”
Defense attorney Heath Harris, one of those affected by the mishap, said the county should be held responsible for payments incurred by people like him who were charged overdraft fees from automatic payments after not being paid by the county.
“Even if it’s a small credit, or $35. Well, if you miss that $35, it’s a late payment, then,” he said, per FOX 4. “They’re going to have late fees, and that’s going to double that amount, which doubles another amount.”
He said that “if people can prove that they were detrimentally harmed” by the “egregious error that the county made … [the county] should pay,” per FOX 4.
“My argument is that I just want the county to do what’s right, and that’s to make these people whole,” he said.
However, Dallas County Auditor Darryl Thomas insisted the issue is no big deal, claiming, “The system is working,” per FOX 4.
“There will be a few bugs, but we have been running checks,” he said, “Not a major issue.”
The Dallas Express reached out to Dallas County for comment but received no response by press time.
FOX 4’s Lori Brown also claimed the county has yet to respond to her “many messages.”