EPCSO updates lengthy paid leave for 3 commanders

The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office released a statement Friday evening updating the status of three commanders who have been on paid leave since mid-May.

The commanders — Mitchell Lincoln, Robert King and Rodney Gehrett — have received $130,000 in pay since being placed on leave by Sheriff Terry Maketa. The commanders believed Maketa retaliated against them for filing workplace complaints against him.

According to the statement, two commanders will receive a letter of reprimand while a third will not face discipline in the matter. However, the third commander is the subject of a different investigation and could be disciplined there.

The statement did not specify which commanders will be reprimanded, nor did it say when the commanders will return to work. A final disposition in the matter, the statement said, is pending a review by the County Attorney’s Office.

The statement explains that the two reprimanded commanders were punished for not handling their grievances with Maketa properly.

“The sheriff has the right to expect honesty, loyalty and constructive input from his employees, especially senior members of his staff,” according to the statement.

The statement revealed that the Sheriff’s Office hired an independent law firm in September to conduct a separate probe of the matter, and found that Maketa had no intention to discipline the commanders because of their complaints.

“The evidence does not support that Sheriff Maketa knew about the EEOC complaint at the time,” according to the statement.

The statement also revealed that Maketa placed the commanders on leave because they told the media he pressured them to give him the annual Hundred Club award, though Maketa said he wasn’t going to retaliate against the commanders.

The commanders accused Maketa of sexual misconduct, workplace discrimination and creating a hostile work environment. An investigation by El Paso County commissioners substantiated some of the claims. The matter is now being investigated by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.

Sgt. Gregory White, a spokesman with the Sheriff’s Office, said Maketa has the discretion to determine whether to place an employee on leave, and decide how long the leave should last.

“It’s discretionary when in the best interests of the Office, county and community,” he said.

County spokesman Dave Rose said the extended leave and its cost may save taxpayer money in the long run.

“The county’s belief is you want to minimize that risk (of liability) to the very best of your ability,” he said. “So, while certainly $130,000 is a lot of money, it may be relatively small compared to potential liability.”

Incoming Sheriff Bill Elder said he will keep the commanders in the department when he takes over in January.

Rose said nine claims seeking nearly $4 million in damages have been filed against the county and three claims were filed with the EEOC.

Rose said investigations into Maketa and the Sheriff’s Office have cost county taxpayers $185,000 so far.

In a related matter, White defended Maketa’s recent hiring of employees. Maketa received some criticism for hiring 20 graduates from the EPCSO academy, along with an unspecified number of non-sworn employees, in the final weeks of his term when a new administration might eliminate some of those jobs.

“We’ve had 11 people leave in the last couple of months,” he said. “We have 788 right now and there at least six retirements or resignations coming up. We’re hiring to help Elder. If he wants to hire, it’ll be next December before they’re ready for work.”

White said the department is not overstaffed and Maketa is not intentionally increasing his workforce to create problems for Elder.

“And we’re not overspending, either,” White said. “In fact, we’re returning $1 million to the budget this year.”

White said Maketa issued Friday’s release to clear up any misconceptions.

Elder said “I’m not thrilled” about the size of the Sheriff’s Office but said he plans to keep most of the current staff and employees.

He said normal attrition and leaving some staff positions open, should handle any surplus of employees.

Here is the release from the Sheriff’s Office:

On May 12, 2014, Sheriff Maketa placed 3 Division Commanders on Administrative Leave. The Sheriff has consistently indicated the reason for this action was due to their speaking with the media regarding the 100 Club nomination, rather than following Sheriff’s Office Policy.

In the interest of a fair and impartial investigation, the law firm of Sherman and Howard was retained to oversee an independent investigation into this matter. Former CSPD Chief Lorne Kramer, as one who has extensive experience in law enforcement, was retained to review the facts surrounding the actions of the Commanders. It should be noted this was not required by either EPSO Policy or law, and was done in the interest of ensuring fairness in the proceedings.

At the completion of that neutral, outside investigation, Mr. Kramer concluded the following:

1) At no time did Sheriff Maketa intend to investigate and discipline those who spoke to the media regarding the 100 Club nomination in order to retaliate against those commanders for filing their EEOC complaint. The evidence does not support that Sheriff Maketa knew about the EEOC complaint at the time he initiated the investigation into the 100 Club nomination.

2) The Sheriff has the right to expect honesty, loyalty and constructive input from his employees, especially senior members of his staff.

3) The evidence is such that disciplinary action is warranted against two of the commanders. That action will be a letter of reprimand.

4) The evidence is also such that no disciplinary action in this matter is to be taken against the third commander in this matter. However, a separate and unrelated internal investigation is underway regarding that commander and additional action may be taken in that matter.

5) The results of the separate investigation concerning the third Commander were provided to the County Attorney’s Office, at their request, on or about September 18, 2014. The County Attorney’s Office then requested additional information which was provided on September 25, 2014. Disposition regarding this matter is pending their final review.

Sheriff Maketa hopes the release of these results will clear up the misconceptions surrounding this issue.