Thumbnail: Curry County Sheriff’s seal. Right: Curry County’s seal.
Curry County commissioners are seeking help from a judge to reopen communications with Sheriff John Ward.
The Board of Commissioners filed a declaratory judgment suit against the sheriff in Curry County Circuit Court on Jan. 13, the county announced Wednesday. Officials say they hope to “resolve long-standing disagreements” with the sheriff about their roles and responsibilities.
“Filing suit was an option of last resort that was taken after the Board and county legal counsel made multiple requests for cooperation, information and records from the sheriff’s office that were not satisfactorily fulfilled,” the county stated in its press release.
Ward accused the Board of Commissioners of defunding his office and placing the blame on him. In a Facebook comment below the county’s post on Wednesday, Ward said he would come out with a press release “countering their accusations and pointing out the truth.”
“They have continually sabotaged our Sheriff’s Office, and that will come out as well,” he said. “I have tried to take the high road this whole time while they are spinning their negative narrative away from themselves.”
Ward added that he isn’t the only elected official the Board of Commissioners is “messing with.”
The Curry County sheriff has been at odds with commissioners and Director of Operations Ted Fitzgerald since August — about three months after voters rejected a tax levy that would fund 24-7 law enforcement.
On Thursday, Fitzgerald told Redwood Voice Community News that Roseburg attorney Dominic Carollo is representing Curry County. Due to the ongoing litigation, Fitzgerald couldn’t go into detail about the suit or what it might accomplish, though he said he wanted to get the matter resolved as quickly as possible.
“We are just trying to define the responsibilities and duties of the parties so we can resolve some of these outstanding disagreements,” he told Redwood Voice. “I would like to see an expedited process so that we can get on with the business of county government as quickly as possible. We got budget season coming and I’d like to have this resolved as quickly as possible.”
Budget season starts in March, Fitzgerald said.
According to Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute, a declaratory judgment is a binding judgment from a court defining the legal relationship between parties and their rights in a potential lawsuit. It states the court’s authoritative opinion in a legal matter, including whether the parties would be entitled to any relief, “without requiring the parties to actually do anything,” according to Cornell’s Legal Information Institute.
The Board’s action comes after commissioners last month authorized Fitzgerald, who also serves as county counsel, to complete a Request for Ballot Title form for a proposed law enforcement levy and submit it to Curry County Clerk Shelley Denney.
The Oregon secretary of state has approved the ballot measure’s language, Fitzgerald said Thursday. The proposed law enforcement levy will go before voters on May 20.
The proposed levy was brought to the Board for approval by former commissioner Christopher Paasch and other community members.
The Board of Commissioners’ decision to seek declaratory judgment against the sheriff also comes five months after Ward filed a state bar complaint against Fitzgerald. In that complaint, the sheriff accused Fitzgerald of accusing him of wrongdoing “without specifics and conveyed contempt, animosity and disparagement” at Board of Commissioners meetings.
In July, Ward said because of the failed tax levy in May he had to cut his staff down to three deputies and three supervisors who were only available to respond to crimes-in-progress from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Friday. He had urged the Board of Commissioners to dip into its road department reserve to “save the deputies’ jobs and provide public safety.”
In his Facebook post on Wednesday, Ward accused the Board of changing their policies “on the fly” to gain control of his office.
“I was born and raised right here in Curry County and have been with the Sheriff’s Office for 34 years, spending half my life serving and protecting the citizens of our county, the last 10 years as your sheriff,” he wrote. “They can’t say that. Stay tuned for a press release that I will put out after conferring with my attorney. There is so much more that will leave you scratching your heads.”
