Tensions between county offices come to light

County Judge David Writer is considering adding a full-time employee to handle human resources, District 1 Justice of the Peace Jack Deaton said during a joint meeting of the Carroll County Quorum Court’s budget and personnel committees on Tuesday, Oct. 3.

Deaton said the judge is considering the move after continued tension between Carroll County Clerk Connie Doss and other county offices, most notably the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office.

“The judge has contacted me,” Deaton said. “He wants to hire his own H.R. He can do that.”

“What does he propose that he wants to do with this H.R. person?” Doss asked.

“He wants them to start dealing with time sheets,” Deaton said.

“Oh, no,” Doss replied.

“That’s causing so much trouble right now between you and other departments,” Deaton said. “It has got to stop.”

District 6 JP Craig Hicks asked why Doss objects to having time sheets handled by an employee in the county judge’s office.

“Because I’m the official bookkeeper of the county,” Doss answered. “I’m the official person that takes care of the time sheets. That’s in the code.”

Deaton said Rider was “trying to stop all the arguing going on.” “It’s the sheriff’s department, is what it is,” Doss said. “I mean, bottom line, that’s where probably 90 percent — more than that, even — of where we have issues. It’s going to be with the sheriff’s department. They can’t even add two plus two, Jack. They cannot even add.”

“But then again, there’s got to be a different way to get them to learn how to do (two plus two),” Deaton said.

Doss said she has offered to train sheriff’s office personnel to prepare the time sheets.

Deaton said he sometimes feels like “the kindergarten teacher” in trying to keep the peace between county departments.

“Sometimes, that’s what it feels like in my office, too,” Doss said.

Deaton said he isn’t receiving complaints just from the sheriff’s office.

“I’m just sick of it. And the judge is sick of it,” he said. “It’s just argue, argue, argue. Can we do something else, to stop all this? You guys don’t have to go out and eat, but you’ve got to be able to work together.”

Later, Doss said the county human resources responsibilities include more than payroll, pointing to the need for the county to comply with the requirements of the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.

“For every time that we don’t do FMLA paperwork on it, we could be audited on it and then we are fined,” she said. “Do we want to be fined? No. We have (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliances that we have to work with.”

Asked by Hicks whether she would be glad to have the HR responsibilities assigned elsewhere, Doss said she didn’t know.

“I don’t know that I was expecting this conversation,” she said.

Sheriff Daniel Klatt, who was not present at the joint committee meeting, said Friday, Oct. 6, said the issues with Doss don’t stem from a lack of knowledge or ability in the sheriff’s office.

“It’s not at all that we can’t add two plus two,” Klatt said. “It’s more that we don’t do everything she demands it to be done or wants it done. … I think a lot of it has to do with the previous administration and her not getting along with them. You know, we’re competent. We know what we’re doing. We’ve done this before. It’s just kind of one of those deals. No matter what you do, they find a way to change it.”

Klatt said if issues arise with auditors over faulty paperwork, “it would be on us.”

“It wouldn’t be on her,” he said. “It has nothing to do with her. It has nothing to do with her department. We’re not trying to fight, trust me. We’re just trying to get stuff done.”

Klatt said he believes having one person dedicated to human resources would be beneficial to the county.

“Personally, I think it’s a good idea,” he said.