Deputies could be back to work by month’s end

All or part of the eight laid off Whitley County Sheriff’s Department employees could be headed back to work by the end of the month.
On July 1, Sheriff Lawrence Hodge laid off seven deputies and one office worker due to budget cuts by the fiscal court, which totaled nearly $124,930.
“We plan to give them monies above what we budgeted for them. We hope to make them a good faith payment by the end of the month,” Whitley County Judge-Executive Burley Foley said Tuesday morning.
Foley said funding above what the county already has allocated for the sheriff’s department will require a budget amendment that is passed by the fiscal court.
“I can go ahead and satisfy a large portion of their budget, and then make that budget amendment later,” Foley said. “The bottom line is we want to give them some good faith money. We want them working.”
Officials said they aren’t sure how much money that the fiscal court will be able to allocate, or how many deputies will be brought back to work with the funding.
“This is not a commitment, but I hope to be able to get them back where they were. I know I can’t do that by the end of the month, or even the end of next month, but I hope I can get them enough money to where they can call their people back,” Foley said.
Hodge said he will gladly take any extra money that the fiscal court can send his way.
“We will take $5 if they have it laying around,” he added.
Since the layoffs, Hodge said that some of his laid off deputies have been working on a volunteer basis.
“They are volunteering their time because they care enough about the people of Whitley County to stay here and work even though they could have gotten jobs elsewhere,” Hodge said.
Laid off deputies include: Scott Lake, Glenn Bunch, Ben Hodge, Josh Meadors, Troy Sharp, Dennis Foley, and Keith Smith. Another deputy had already quit to take a job with another department prior to the layoffs.