Campaign To Abolish

County Sheriff System Begins

HARTFORD (AP) — A campaign to abolish the county sheriff system has begun.

Two state legislators and about 10 deputy sheriffs from across the state issued a statement from the front of Hartford Superior Court Monday that marked the formal start of their campaign.

The deputies and state Reps Michael P. Lawlor, D-East Haven, and David McClosky, D-West Hartford, urged unions to support their effort to eliminate the patronage-based sheriff system and make the deputies state employees. They also urged voters, in this presidential election year, to remember to vote on the sheriff’s referendum question at the bottom of the ballot.

“We don’t want people to forget the importance of making sure residents vote on the sheriff’s issue,” Mr McClosky said.

While the group, calling itself “Vote Yes for Sheriff’s Reform,” used the holiday to launch their effort, the eight sheriffs who would lose their jobs if the referendum passes have been working to drum up support.

The National Sheriffs Association recently ran an advertisement in its trade magazine urging sheriffs from all across the country to donate money to help save the Connecticut sheriffs. An attorney for the organization said it plans to get involved in the referendum, most likely with a statewide mailing on the importance of preserving the sheriff’s system.

“This is not about defending the actions of a particular sheriff, but of saving the position itself, which has been around for hundreds of years,” said the attorney, Richard Weintraub.

If the referendum were approved, the county sheriffs system, the last vestige of county government in Connecticut, would be dismantled. The deputy sheriffs, who serve legal papers, would become Connecticut state marshals and be appointed by a 12-member commission instead of the sheriff in each county.

The special deputy sheriffs, who guard courthouses and transport prisoners, would become state employees and work for the Judicial Department. Deputies are now paid a per diem rate, and if the sheriff doesn’t want them to work, they don’t get paid.

“The last place where people can still be used for political purposes is the sheriff’s system, and the time has come for voters to make the 1,200 deputy and special deputy sheriffs full-time employees,” Mr Lawlor said.

Legislators have been discussing for several years how to reform the sheriff’s system, but this year was the first time there was bipartisan agreement that reform was necessary, Mr Lawlor said.

The sheriffs have been embroiled in several legal problems and two of the eight sheriffs, Windham County Sheriff Thomas White and New London County Sheriff Gerard Egan, have been arrested. Mr White was arrested on allegations he embezzled a client’s money, and Mr Egan was charged with taking an assault rifle into a courthouse. Both cases are pending.

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has been investigating gun purchases by sheriffs and allegations of price-gouging of out-of-state law firms.