VIDALIA, La. — Claristeen Beard thinks Concordia Parish police jurors have better things to do than give themselves a raise — like improve drainage to keep her property from flooding.

“Besides, I think that the $856 they are getting now is enough,” said Beard, a resident of Concordia Park, a Vidalia area subdivision with many public works needs. “That job is supposed to be public service anyway.”

Monday, five of nine police jurors voted to raise the maximum salary they could receive from $856 to $1,200 a month. The jury also voted to keep its salaries at $856 for now, at least until the jury ? which labors under a tight budget — gets enough money to fund the raises. The jury’s president, now Juror Charlie Blaney, receives $956.

Jurors still get more than the state average of $826.25, according to figures from the Louisiana Police Jury Association.

Jurors who voted to raise the maximum salary to $1,200 were Gene Allen, Willie J. Dunbar, Randy Temple, Melvin Ferrington and Rodney Smith. Jurors voting against were Cathy Darden and Tommy “Red” Tiffee. Carey Cook was absent and Blaney, as president, usually does not vote.

The jury had advertised in a local newspaper that a hearing would be held on an ordinance to set the salary limit at $1,200. Ferrington said his understanding was the jury had to vote on that ordinance since it was the one advertised and discussed in the hearing.

“We also had the advice of our legal counsel (in the District Attorney’s Office) to go ahead and approve what the Legislature had set,” Ferrington said.

“We mainly did it because the Legislature felt that amount was appropriate,”&160;said Temple, who was elected last fall and is now the jury’s Finance Committee chairman.

Temple pointed out that no one in the full jury meeting room objected to the new salary limit in the public hearing, which was held at the start of Monday’s meeting.

Dunbar said he voted to raise the maximum salary so that jurors could vote for raises in the future if the budget allowed it. “I don’t think it is appropriate to accept a raise at this time, but I didn’t want the (maximum) salary to be locked in and jurors not be able to change it later,” he said.

But Marvin Lyons, legislative coordinator for the Police Jury Association, said jurors would not be locked in.

In fact, he said they could decide to pass an ordinance at any time to set their salaries, provided another public hearing was held and was advertised twice.

Still, Concordia jurors who voted to set their salary limit at $1,200 reiterated Tuesday that they will not increase their salaries until the jury has the money in its budget to do so.

“All of us care enough about the parish to know the money’s not there to raise salaries … especially with a tight budget like we’ve got now,” Ferrington said.

“I&160;don’t think those raises will ever come about because of the (strained) finances of our parish and the economic outlook in the near future,”&160;Temple said.

The Police Jury’s finances have been tight in recent years. On Monday, the jury had to transfer more than $9,556 from the general fund to the criminal court fund to be able to pay court personnel’s salaries.

Other financial concerns include the bankruptcy of Fruit of the Loom, the parish’s largest manufacturer, which went bankrupt in December and still owes the jury more than $564,000.

For her part, Susan Ogle, an Eagle Road resident who lobbied the Concordia jury Monday to reinstall speed bumps on the road, said that even if the jury had money for raises, they have better things to do with the money.

“I&160;appreciate that they didn’t choose to take the raises now, … but before they do get raises, they need to fix potholes and take care of the parish’s other (public works)&160;problems,”&160;Ogle said.