Cash payments to sheriff’s deputies cause concern

Oct. 16--MORRIS -- A decades-old practice at the Grundy County Sheriff's Department came under question this week following Freedom of Information Act requests filed by retired sheriff's deputy Jeff Cole.

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Cole's documents trace payments made to the sheriff's department from the Exelon Dresden station, money that is never processed by the Grundy County Treasurer's office.

The money is used to compensate sheriff's deputies who provide traffic control for the plant during Dresden's annual outage, when hundreds of additional employees are brought on to repair and upgrade plant machinery.

The shutdown can cause a "traffic nightmare" around the plant, so for more than 20 years, the sheriff's department has scheduled deputies to work extra traffic control details to help move traffic, Grundy County Sheriff Kevin Callahan said.

Exelon negotiates an hourly rate of pay and writes a check to the Grundy County Sheriff's office to cover all of the man-hours worked.

But documents show that once the sheriff's department cashes the check, the cash is dispersed among deputies, bypassing the treasurer's office and not following typical payroll procedure.

Callahan did not deny the cash payments were made, but added that it has been the department's common practice for more than 20 years.

Last year was Callahan's first year facilitating the Exelon traffic control details.

Documents show that in 2013, Exelon wrote Callahan's office a check for $6,800 to compensate the 10 deputies who worked a total of 68 two-hour details for Dresden. None of that money was reported to the treasurer's office, documents show.

Cole presented his findings to Grundy County Board member Vicki Geiger, who brought them before the Grundy County Finance Committee on Tuesday night. Geiger questioned the legality and liability of the cash payments.

Taxes, retirement fund payments, insurance and other deductions are not taken out of the cash, which could pose problems for the county and make bookkeeping inaccurate, Geiger said Wednesday.

"That's not really how we should be doing business within the county," Geiger said.

Callahan said he is open to charging the county for the deputies' overtime pay doing the extra work, if that is how the county wants its compensation handled.

According to the documents for 2013, the most cash a single deputy was paid for the details was $1,400 for working 14 shifts.

"I will gladly look into this, and if there is a better way to do it, with more accountability, I'll do it," Callahan said Wednesday. "If it's something that is not done right, I'm open to changing."

Cole retired from the Grundy County Sheriff's Department after several years of service. Cole would not say why he chose to bring the documents to public's attention at this time.

"This is not about me. It's about open and honest government," Cole said Wednesday.

Callahan said Cole worked similar cash-paid details during his time with the sheriff's department.

Exelon Communications Manager Bob Osgood said the plant appreciates the officers who keep everyone safe.

Assistant State's Attorney Perry Rudman said the payments do not pose an insurance liability to the county, but he was not clear whether the money must go through the treasurer's office.

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