Menu
BREAKING: Merit board hears official complaint from deputies
The Merit Board for the Clay County Sheriff's Deputies made a decision – sort of – Monday night during an official meeting regarding complaints about Chief Deputy Josh Clarke: They need more information.
Merit Board President Dr. Ron Leach asked the merit deputies present at the meeting if they were still filing an official complaint. They confirmed they wanted to proceed.(The rest of the board members include Ron Sclight, Tom Telgemeyer, Kim Jackson, and John Tilley.)
Besides allegations of Clarke creating a hostile work environment, the letter outlined instances of conduct unbecoming an officer, including:
Threatening physical harm to a merit deputy in the presence of another merit deputy.
Verbally attacking a merit deputy over a political sign in that merit deputies friends yard. Then approaching said friend in a public place and questioning them.
Kicking the chair a merit deputy was sitting in, saying they had one coming, while Clarke allegedly knew the deputy had prior back problems.
Inappropriate communications with a wife of a merit deputy.
The complaint also alleges: "The morale and outlook of the Clay County Sheriff's Office hangs in the balance. It is our shared belief that there is one common denominator in the negativity of the Clay County Sheriff's Office, Joshua D. Clarke."
The merit board members all agreed they also need legal advice to handle this situation correctly.
So the merit board members agreed to set a tentative Executive Session on the calendar in the next few days, awaiting the findings of an upcoming meeting with legal representation and tabled the matter.
The board confirmed the attorneys would be provided the official complaint filed by the merit deputies in September and Sheriff Paul Harden's letter of finding to the deputies after the internal investigation.
Chief Deputy Josh Clarke was reprimanded by Harden, but the sheriff would not recommend discipline or termination, and restored Clarke to full-duty status.