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Accusations Fly During Ohio County Civil Service Hearing on Deputy Pay

Joselyn King

WHEELING -- Details about a lack of security at The Highlands Sports Complex, a fight between two visiting teams there last fall, and no deputies being willing to work traffic detail at The Highlands on Black Friday dominated an Ohio County Sheriff's Deputy Civil Service Commission hearing on Thursday.

Deputies requested the civil service commission hearing -- a mechanism that focuses on pay disputes -- last December after county commissioners informed the sheriff's department it would no longer call on them for overtime security at The Highlands, and was changing its overall overtime policies for the deputies.

The deputies allege the move by the commissioners came in retaliation for three lawsuits they had filed against the county just days before. These lawsuits claim the county owes the deputies a week of pay due to a change in payroll procedures, that they didn't receive the pay they should have during the pandemic, and that they had to use their accrued sick time to take time off when infected with COVID while on the job.

The hearing regarding those three court cases filed in Ohio County Circuit Court is set for noon today at the City-County Building in Wheeling.

Thursday's hearing, though, took place before the Ohio County Sheriff's Deputy Civil Service Commission and focused specifically on pay disputes between the deputies and the Ohio County Commission. The hearing continued until late in the afternoon and ultimately was continued, and is set to resume on Tuesday, based on courtroom availability.

On Thursday, Ohio County Administrator Randy Russell denied that canceling an agreement with the sheriff's department for work at The Highlands was in retaliation to the lawsuits filed in early December, and said he and the commission actually began drafting the letter shortly after the Thanksgiving weekend.

Russell testified there had been ongoing issues in recent months with the sheriff's department not responding to requests for security at The Highlands Sports Complex. Often those making the requests didn't know if security was coming or when it might arrive, he said.

The issues with the sheriff's department came to a head on Nov. 25, the heaviest traffic day of the year at The Highlands, Russell said. Because there is only one way in and one way out of the development, traffic tends to bottleneck on the property.

He said requests were submitted for deputies to manually work traffic signals to help keep traffic flowing that day, but none chose to work.

Russell also testified that a few weeks before that, security had been requested for a basketball tournament at the sports complex that involved teams from outside the area. A deputy was there for much of the day, but left before a fight broke out involving a team from Cincinnati.

Spectators jumped in to break up the brawl, and a patrolling deputy was called to the scene and responded quickly, according to Russell.

Attorney William Wilmoth, representing the Ohio County Commission, asked Russell if the dismissal of deputies for overtime duty at The Highlands was in retaliation for the deputies' lawsuits.

"This was technically in the process already," Russell responded. "We started composing this on Nov. 30."

Ohio County Commission President Don Nickerson testified he is a frequent visitor to the sports complex, as his daughter plays basketball there. He said he has noticed a lack of security there, and has questioned manager Harvey Greenidge on the issue.

"He always explained to me he had trouble getting communication from the sheriff's department on security issues," Nickerson said.

Commissioners Zach Abraham and Randy Wharton each also testified the dismissal of deputies from security work at The Highlands had been discussed prior to the lawsuits being filed, and came to a head after Black Friday.

Attorney Joshua Miller, representing the deputies, suggested to Nickerson he might be able to have a deputy come forward to say he was the one providing security at the sports complex the night of the fight, and that he had been dismissed by the referee. The deputy would also say that he returned within two minutes when called back, Miller claimed.

Nickerson said he would be willing to listen to what the deputy had to say, but the deputy was not called to the stand on Thursday.

Miller asked Nickerson if any other firm had been providing security at the sports complex since work there for deputies has stopped. Nickerson responded that he knew private security was retained for some events, but to his knowledge no one else has been called upon for the service.

Sheriff Tom Howard testified that a lack of manpower was largely the reason his office has not been able to provide security on a regular basis. He noted a selling point to attracting new hires had been the opportunity to work overtime security hours at The Highlands.

Howard also testified that the county hired Wheeling police officers to do security last month when a County Board of Equalization and Review hearing attracted about 200 people. The meeting took place within Wheeling City Council chambers at the City-County Building.

Howard agreed his existing deputies will earn less this year than they did in 2022 by not having overtime work at The Highlands, and that this will also affect their pension benefits.

"The pay is just not high enough," he said.

Attorneys Christopher Turak and Melissa Barr presided over the Ohio County Sheriff's Deputy Civil Service Commission hearing on Thursday.