Published: February 28, 2008 10:22 pm         

Sheriff candidates debate at GOP women’s forum

By Leslie Gibson

Herald-Banner Staff



For the first time since assertions have been made by sheriff candidate Teresa Tuggle, incumbent sheriff Harold Eavenson addressed some of them in the Feb. 21 meeting of the Rockwall County Republican Women.

They, as well as every opposed local candidate in the Republican primary, each had three minutes to address the full house of voters in the third-floor courtroom of the Historical Courthouse.

Tuggle spoke before Eavenson. As she has published and stated, she is running because “I read an article in December about a man who died in his own vomit and feces at the jail and that just disgusts me.”

She also asserted that two jail employees have lost their licenses for theft at the jail. “Something is wrong,” she said.

Eavenson did not address directly the inmate who died as she described, but did note that of the 55,000 inmates processed during the last seven years, one inmate committed suicide; litigation is pending on that, he said. He said he knows of no civil litigation against the county for jail employees stealing and does not know of such theft during his tenure.

Another statement Tuggle made is that sheriff’s deputies need no high school diploma or GED to get hired, and that she has spoken with the Rockwall County Library GED program about providing such to employees for free. She said she will make use of free education and training available from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement and see that employees enroll in college within six months of getting their GED. In her written speech, she said she would like to see deputy-pay raised as college work increases.

“Law enforcement is about public safety, not just speed traps,” she said. She said she will be pro-active against crime, and provide detailed and timely reports which are not a priority now, she said. She will require that reports be written daily.

“We need a sheriff concerned about employees and inmates,” she closed, and added that she would use volunteers to help inmates.

Eavenson responded by saying that Rockwall County deputies and detention officers are required to have a high school diploma or a GED to get the job.

He explained that incentive pay is paid to detention staff for associate and bachelor’s degrees and for intermediate and advanced jailer’s licenses.

“We are probably the only county in the metroplex that has a shift differential pay program for evening and night shifts at a rate of 5 to 10 percent to assist in recruiting and maintaining quality staff,” he said.

Of the 113 employees in the Sheriff’s Office, 63 work in the jail, and 50 in the Sheriff’s Office. Three detention officers have an advanced license, two an intermediate, and 54 a basic. Six have a bachelor or master’s degree.

Deputies must be 21 years old, have the diploma or GED and be a certified peace officer. As with the jailers, deputies also receive incentive pay for associate and bachelor’s degrees and for intermediate and master’s peace officer certification. Thirteen deputies have a basic peace officer certification, five an intermediate, eight an advanced, and 10 a master’s. Eleven Sheriff’s Office employees have college degrees.

Both detention officers of the quarter and year and quarter are recognized, and the deputy and civilian employee of the year are recognized.

He also addressed an issue Tuggle brought up in past candidate presentations; that of a deputy whom a jury found innocent of indecency with a child.

The case was investigated in 2005 by the Texas Rangers, at Eavenson’s request, he stated. The incident did not occur while the deputy was on duty. One week into the investigation, he fired the employee, he said. The grand jury returned indictments and a jury found the man not guilty, Eavenson said. No civil litigation came forward from the case.

Reports are submitted to the district attorney’s office in 72 hours or less, he said.

He said his command staff and he will discuss issues or concerns with the operations of the Sheriff’s Office with any citizen.

“I am very proud of the employees of the Sheriff’s Office and the quality of the command staff I have assembled,” he said.