ST. LOUIS – Taxpayer dollars help Missouri and Illinois employ thousands of state workers each year.
Some of these workers, usually ones in high-profile capacities or leadership roles, make hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.
The Missouri Accountability Portal and Illinois Comptroller’s Office keep track of salaries for state employees through online databases. In both cases, their richest state workers make north of $300,000.
Last year, the richest state jobs peaked near $400,000 in Illinois and near half a million dollars in Missouri.
So who are the state’s highest-paid workers? And what exactly are their jobs? Inspired by a similar report from the Illinois State Journal-Register, here’s what FOX 2 found out:
Missouri
Let’s preface this by noting that, according to the Missouri Accountability, the Top 10 highest-paid Missouri state workers last year were all employed through the Missouri Department of Mental Health.
1) Manisha M. Lele
2023 Salary: $483,704
Agency: Missouri Department of Mental Health
Role: Psychiatrist
2) Sekhar Vangala
2023 Salary: $447,817
Agency: Missouri Department of Mental Health
Role: Psychiatrist
3) Naveen K. Yarasi
2023 Salary: $434,234
Agency: Missouri Department of Mental Health
Role: Psychiatrist
4) Amala Kumar D. Augustine
2023 Salary: $415,532
Agency: Missouri Department of Mental Health
Role: Consulting Physician
5) Mohammad Yousuf
2023 Salary: $394,271
Agency: Missouri Department of Mental Health
Role: Psychiatrist
6) Angeline Stanislaus
2023 Salary: $389,558
Agency: Missouri Department of Mental Health
Role: Medical Administrator
7) Nezar A. El-Ruwie
2023 Salary: $382,071
Agency: Missouri Department of Mental Health
Role: Psychiatrist
8) Robert B. Sexe
2023 Salary: $365,036
Agency: Missouri Department of Mental Health
Role: Physician
9) Jamal A. Zereik
2023 Salary: $356,997
Agency: Missouri Department of Mental Health
Role: Staff Physician
10) Ming Bruce Chi
2023 Salary: $334,468
Agency: Missouri Department of Mental Health
Role: Staff Physician
Outside of the Missouri Department of Mental Health, according to the Missouri Accountability Portal, the top-paid state employees included:
Patrick McKenna with the Missouri Department of Transportation ($281,653)
Robert Todd Richardson with the Department of Social Services ($269,228)
Margaret Vandeven with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education ($229,246)
Illinois
According to the Illinois Comptroller’s Office, the Top 10 highest-paid Illinois state workers come from a variety of state departments.
1) Rita Pavate
2023 Salary: $382,500
Agency: Illinois Department of Human Services
Role: Physician Specialist
2) Tommie King
2023 Salary: $368,400
Agency: Illinois State Police
Role: Sergeant
3) Hubert Fernandes
2023 Salary: $345,200
Agency: Illinois Department of Human Services
Role: Physician Specialist
4) Kevin Kelliher
2023 Salary: $340,100
Agency: Illinois State Toll Highway Authority
Role: Sergeant
5) Tanveer Shan
2023 Salary: $338,200
Agency: Illinois Department of Human Services
Role: Physician Specialist
6) Johara Farhadieh
2023 Salary: $336,300
Agency: Illinois State Board of Investments
Role: Director
7) Steven Bowman
2023 Salary: $328,500
Agency: Illinois Department of Corrections
Role: Medical Administrator
8) Ali Minhas
2023 Salary: $327,400
Agency: Illinois Department of Human Services
Role: Physician Specialist
9) Abdul Saboor
2023 Salary: $327,200
Agency: Illinois Department of Human Services
Role: Physician Specialist
10) Jermaine McGee
2023 Salary: $325,500
Agency: Illinois State Toll Highway Authority
Role: Master Trooper
Physician specialist was the most common state job to appear among the highest-paid in Illinois. Outside of those jobs within the Illinois Department of Human Services, according to the Illinois Comptroller’s Office, some of the top-paid state employees included:
Christopher Wilkes with the Illinois Department of State Police ($323,000)
John Gac with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services ($322,900)
Brendan Gibson with the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice ($315,700)
