Troy’s Dalton Gray questions State’s Attorney 2026 expenses, recruitment

by Randy Pierce • Salary increases for personnel in the local state’s attorney’s office were addressed in one of many questions brought up by Madison County Board Finance and Government Operations Committee member Dalton Gray of Troy when that group of elected officials reviewed the proposed budget which is set for approval next week.

Gray, who represents a district that includes part of Troy, at that committee meeting, held in late October, was the one most frequently speaking to seek explanations from department representatives concerning various aspects of their projected expenses for 2026.

Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Haine responded by saying individuals in his profession “are in a hiring crisis throughout the state of Illinois for prosecutors. Every state’s attorney I’ve talked to has several vacancies and cannot find applicants.”

“Where these attorneys went, we don’t know,” he continued, “but it’s been a competition, frankly, among public entities” in similar offices at the state and county levels for legal professionals who wish to go into public service, “so we have to remain competitive” in terms of attracting them when it comes to salaries.

Around mid-year, according to Haine, his office “received word that the starting salary for other very similarly situated counties was going to be raised to $75,000 which posed an immediate potential drain” of his staff members.

After consulting with Madison County Board Chairman Chris Slusser and other elected officials about this situation, Haine said a salary increase for attorneys in his office of 15% was implemented, making that budget item higher for 2026 than how it was presented a year ago.

This, in turn, has a “cascading effect,” he went on, “because you can’t have an entry-level attorney making more than someone that’s been there two, three years” with the result being adding salary increases for existing personnel to address that circumstance.

“I think our starting salaries are now competitive against all the surrounding counties that border us or are nearby,” Haine said, “so that makes me feel good.”

This then gives way to, according to Haine, “rather than competing on just numbers, we can compete on what a great office we are, et cetera, quality of life.”

Gray further wondered how Madison County would be able to keep up with the pace of those salaries should the other counties continue to raise theirs, with Haine answering, “Ultimately, that’s going to be a question, a policy question for the (county) board. You know, you get what you pay for with prosecution and I think the sheriff would tell you the same thing.”

“There just comes a point where if you want prosecutors, you have to pay them what the market demands,” Haine went on. “And if you have fewer prosecutors, you can prosecute fewer crimes then you have more crime.”

Adding that his office cannot control the “market” concerning those salaries, Haine said he was doing his very best to be competitive in this regard, noting, “We don’t have to pay a premium that people want to come to this office because it’s a great place to be.”

Part of this consists, he said, of having attorneys on board who do not have to be “saddled with extraordinary workloads so if you are already paid less than you could make at another job and then you have 600 felony cases, you’re not going to work in that office.”

Offering further justification for what Gray inquired about, Haine stated, in again addressing how it is not something his office can control, “If the market demands a higher salary and we don’t meet it, we just shed attorneys and then when we shed attorneys, police bring us cases, serious cases, and they just have to go unprosecuted.”

“It’s my position that when you prosecute crime, you get less crime,” he shared. “If you refuse to prosecute crime due to budget concerns, it may solve a problem one year but you’re going to have a spiral in the future and I think some local jurisdictions have seen that and I don’t want to go down that road.”

Prior to the end of the finance and government operations committee meeting, Gray expressed his appreciation to those who answered the questions which were posed by him and other elected officials there, “I don’t envy our position as board members. We have a very large budget to look over in a short period of time.”

“I don’t envy the people that prepare the budget,” he also said, “because it’s just a massively complicated thing. I just appreciate all the work that happens in this building and how we’ve been able to collaborate together to hold the property tax levy flat. We’re going on 10 years now so it’s a very precious thing that we have and I just hope that we can all continue to strive to keep that levy flat.” 

budget which is set for approval next week.

Gray, who represents a district which includes part of Troy, at that committee meeting held in late October, when compared to the other board members present, was the one most frequently speaking up to seek explanations from the department representatives in attendance concerning various aspects of their projected expenses for 2026.

Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Haine responded by saying individuals in his profession “are in a hiring crisis throughout the state of Illinois for prosecutors. Every state’s attorney I’ve talked to has several vacancies and cannot find applicants.”

“Where these attorneys went, we don’t know,” he continued, “but it’s been a competition, frankly, among public entities” in similar offices at the state and county levels for legal professionals who wish to go into public service, “so we have to remain competitive” in terms of attracting them when it comes to salaries.

Around midyear, according to Haine, his office “received word that the starting salary for other very similarly situated counties was going to be raised to $75,000 which posed an immediate potential drain” of his staff members.

After consulting with Madison County Board Chairman Chris Slusser and other elected officials about this situation, Haine said a salary increase for attorneys in his office of 15 per cent was implemented, making that budget item higher for 2026 than how it was presented a year ago.

This, in turn, has a “cascading effect,” he went on, “because you can’t have an entry-level attorney making more than someone that’s been there two, three years” with the result being adding salary increases for existing personnel to address that circumstance.

“I think our starting salaries are now competitive against all the surrounding counties that border us or are nearby,” Haine said, “so that makes me feel good.”

This then gives way to, according to Haine, “rather than competing on just numbers, we can compete on what a great office we are, et cetera, quality of life.”

Gray further wondered how Madison County would be able to keep up with the pace of those salaries should the other counties continue to raise theirs, with Haine answering, “Ultimately, that’s going to be a question, a policy question for the (county) board. You know, you get what you pay for with prosecution and I think the sheriff would tell you the same thing.”

“There just comes a point where if you want prosecutors, you have to pay them what the market demands,” Haine went on. “And if you have fewer prosecutors, you can prosecute fewer crimes and then you have more crime.”

Adding that his office cannot control the “market” concerning those salaries, Haine said he was doing his very best to be competitive in this regard, noting, “We don’t have to pay a premium that people want to come this office because it’s a great place to be.”

Part of this consists, he said, of having attorneys on board who do not have to be “saddled with extraordinary workloads so if you are already paid less than you could make at another job and then you have 600 felony cases, you’re not going to work in that office.”

Offering further justification for what Gray inquired about, Haine stated, in again addressing how it is not something his office can control, “If the market demands a higher salary and we don’t meet it, we just shed attorneys and then when we shed attorneys, police bring us cases, serious cases, and they just have to go unprosecuted.”

“It’s my position that when you prosecute crime, you get less crime,” he shared. “If you refuse to prosecute crime due to budget concerns, it may solve a problem one year but you’re going to have a spiral in the future and I think some local jurisdictions have seen that and I don’t want to go down that road.”

Prior to the end of the finance and government operations committee meeting, Gray expressed his appreciation to those who answered the questions which were posed by him and other elected officials there, “I don’t envy our position as board members. We have a very large budget to look over in a short period of time.”

“I don’t envy the people that prepare the budget,” he also said, “because it’s just a massively complicated thing. I just appreciate all the work that happens in this building and how we’ve been able to collaborate together to hold the property tax levy flat. We’re going on 10 years now so it’s a very precious thing that we have and I just hope that we can all continue to strive to keep that levy flat.”