Sheriff Elder: Settlements with employees will help agency move forward
El Paso County Sheriff Bill Elder was pleased with the Board of County Commissioners’ decision Tuesday to settle with two deputies from the agency.
El Paso County will pay more than $200,000 to two sheriff’s sergeants who said they were harassed while working under former El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa.
The Board of County Commissioners said the decision to settle protects taxpayer dollars, and they believe going to court would cost much more in the end.
The two claims were filed last year by Sgts. Emory Gerhart and Charles Kull, who both resigned in 2013.
“Just the pure existence of this kind of turmoil, this personnel issue, is beyond distracting. And the sooner that we can find fair settlements the better. We need to get these things behind us as a group,” Elder told commissioners.
Elder could not say much about negotiations. However, he said he is glad an agreement has been reached.
“There has been a lot of hours gone back and forth in the negotiation and it’s good to get it past us,” said Elder.
Other deputies have filed complaints against the Sheriff’s Office, which could lead to lawsuits and settlements down the road.
“There are a lot of hurt feelings, there are a lot of hard feelings that are left over and I think once they have started the process it is going to take a while to work through it,” said Elder.
The money for the settlements will come from the sheriff’s office budget for staff salaries.
“I don’t want to say it’s not going to have any impact at all, but it’s not a major impact,” said Elder.
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation is still looking into former Sheriff Terry Maketa. Elder said CBI has not requested any additional interviews with staff but investigators have asked for additional evidence in recent months.
Elder said his agency does not know about the status or findings of CBI’s investigation.
“We will cooperate but I am not kept in the loop at all. I don’t think anyone in the agency is, but that’s OK. We don’t need to control that investigation,” said Elder.
A spokesperson with CBI said the agency’s investigation into Maketa is still underway.
