BOLLINGER COUNTY OFFICERS FOOT BILL TO PROTECT COUNTY

(Last of two parts)

MARBLE HILL The sheriff and two deputies at the Bollinger County Sheriff's Department are footing part of the bill when answering police calls for the county.

According to department records, the three officers were not reimbursed for $439 worth of gasoline used in July while answering calls for police assistance from county residents.

The county will reimburse each officer up to $500 in mileage expenses each month, and when mileage exceeds the $500 limit, officers must pay their own expenses.

But they can recoup the money the following month, if expenses that month are less than $500.

Department records show that Sheriff Dan Mesey and Deputy James Humphreys were reimbursed by the county in August for $127 and $11.50, respectively, for their excess mileage in July.

The other deputy, Jerry Benfield, has never been re-reimbursed for just over $300 worth of mileage he accumulated in July, Mesey said. Benfield's mileage in August also exceeded $500.

"They get $500, that's it," said County Clerk Diane Holzum. "If they don't have as many miles the next month and stay under the $500 they can go back and pick up the extra mileage they lost."

It's a system that doesn't sit well with the sheriff.

"They're telling us to cut back on our mileage, but how can we do that? By not answering calls, or screening calls to decide which ones to answer?" said Mesey. "That's obviously not something we're going to do."

The sheriff said he and the two deputies use their own vehicles and pay for insurance and tires themselves. The three purchase gasoline on credit each month and turn in the bills to the county, he said.

The county reimburses the officers for 25 cents per mile up to 2,000 miles per month, or $500. Until August, the officers were only reimbursed up to 20 cents per mile, or $400.

Deputies in the county earn an annual salary of $10,500 per year, plus overtime pay. The sheriff earns $21,550, with no overtime pay, county records show.

County Commissioner Jerry Woodfin said the county has no choice but to limit the amount of mileage for which the sheriff and deputies are reimbursed.

"I don't think they should have to take it out of their pocket," he said, "but they need to stretch it a little more. We only have so much money to work with, and we've got to limit the mileage or we'd be out of money."

Members of the Bollinger County Sheriff's Department Advisory Committee disagree.

"The (officers) are out there doing their jobs and running their own cars," said committee member Marshall Stroder. "All the commissioners have to do is try a little harder to come up with the money."

Committee member Earnest Darr said he thinks the problem lies with Presiding Commissioner Elwood Mouser's personal feelings toward the sheriff.

Darr said Mouser walked out of a Sept. 23 meeting of the advisory committee and the commissioners when he was confronted by sheriff's department personnel who complained that the department is underfunded.

"He (Mouser) admitted he does not like Dan Mesey," Darr said. "I think that's the biggest part of it. And I don't think he should let his personal feelings interfere with his job."

Mouser, a Democrat elected last year, refused to comment.

Mesey, a Republican, said regardless of personal feelings, the commission and the sheriff's department should work together to protect the county. Mesey said he did not have a personal problem with Mouser.

"We should share the same common goal, and that's to guarantee a certain quality of life for county residents," the sheriff said. "But it seems we spend most of our time battling."

Mesey said that since he took office in May, the sheriff's department has contributed nearly $6,000 to the county's general revenue fund.

Two checks totaling $750, both made out to the sheriff's department, were added to the county's general revenue, along with a $5,087 reimbursement check from Southwestern Bell for telephone overcharges.

The sheriff said he discovered that the county had been paying for two department telephone lines that were no longer in use.

Woodfin said the money was added to the county's general revenue fund and has yet to be allocated.

Darr, Stroder and the four other members of the advisory committee want the county to add a third deputy to the sheriff's department reduce the amount of overtime deputies are forced to work.

Stroder said he wants the nearly $6,000 collected in donations and the telephone company check to be used for that purpose. The committee also wants $6,000 now allocated for three communities' neighborhood watch programs earmarked instead to pay the third deputy's salary.

"We've got to support the law and order in this county," Stroder said. "And the commission has to realize the sheriff's department is not a moneymaker; it's there to protect the citizens."