By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Former Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Hal Sprouse yesterday won his appeal of his firing.
Sprouse, 61, was terminated by Sheriff Steve Mansfield in January of last year, and the Lewis County Civil Service Commission subsequently upheld the firing.
A Cowlitz County Superior Court judge yesterday ruled in his favor, he said.
“We’ve been fighting the civil service ruling,” Sprouse said today. “The judge overturned it.”
He had been asking to be reinstated with backpay and benefits, he said.
His appeal was filed in Lewis County, but a Cowlitz County judge has been handling it because of potential conflicts, he said.
Sprouse said he was happy about the judge’s decision.
“I expected it all along ’cause I really believe what I did was correct, was what I should do, and was within the law,” he said.
His firing was related to him giving information to the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office, he said. He didn’t want to discuss the details however, referring further questions to his lawyer
The county has the right to appeal the decision, he said.
Sprouse, who started work at the sheriff’s office in November of 2001 after retiring from the Phoenix, Ariz. Police Department, is currently selling real estate locally, he said.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
It leaves one to ask: Was this man fired for blowing the whistle on acts of wrong-doing? If so, then yes, he deserves his job back. However, if he was just throwing accusations around, and those accusations are found to be baseless, then he does NOT deserve his job back. A whistle-blower who has direct knowledge of wrong-doing SHOULD report this to the proper authorities, but when a person reports others, and this information is proven to be false, then the person who cried “WOLF!” should be held accountable for providing false information.
I’m not going to argue that sending this case to a superior court judge from another county, since it only makes sense to do so in order to prevent any conflicts of interest with the local judges. The judge, however, removed any authority of the Sheriff to control his own department when he said this guy should get his job back.
Civil Service Commissions are NOT beholden to the various politicians, unions, political parties, whatever. Or at least they aren’t supposed to be. In this case, they upheld the decision of the Sheriff to terminate the employment of someone who broke the rules. Again, go to my opinion on the whistle blower… if the allegations were true and factual, then the firing was not justified… if the allegations were false, then the Sheriff was right to terminate the job.
As for your question: “Who has the authority to control the Sheriff?” The people who elect the Sheriff are the ones who have the authority to control him. HE works for US, not the other way around. If there is PROOF that he acted in a manner that is or was illegal, then the voters need to do something about it, instead of simply reelecting him time after time. Recall petitions work, too. Filing complaints with outside agencies works a lot better than going to local politicians.
If there is SOLID PROOF that the Sheriff acted in an illegal manner, then this needs to be reported to the proper authorities (the local prosecutor is NOT the proper authority in this case…). If FALSE charges are brought, then the appropriate penalties should be expected.
I know not everyone likes the Sheriff, but if he isn’t permitted to run his department, then who will run it?
George, you wrote that, “When a judge over-rides what the employer (in this case, the Sheriff’s Department) and the civilian oversight committee (Civil Service Commission) say, it completely undermines the authority of the Sheriff to control his own department.”
My question for you is who has the authority to control the Sheriff?
The Civil Service Commission is made up of community members that are close with all county branches of government. When there is allegations of wrongdoing against the Sheriff himself (even if not proven later), any public servant has the absolute right to contact the prosecutors office. (Whistle Blower Laws) In the case where a deputy is given a gag order not to talk to anyone, this law still applies. If you think about it, the Sheriff’s top management (if not the Sheriff himself) issued the gag order regarding a case against the Sheriff himself. This implies direct conflict of interest on the Sheriff’s part. It sounds like the officer (Sprouse) simply believed he had the right to question the order and the Sheriff’s actions. He could not do this with his direct superiors because they all work for the Sheriff. I think sending this case to a Superior court judge in another county was the best way to get a fair and unbiased verdict. Thanks for your comments though, I believe even if I don’t agree with everything that you are saying, it is still important to get the opinions of everyone. That is what makes our country so much better than most!
The community supports him? He violated departmental procedures, was caught doing so, was fired for doing so, said firing was upheld by a commission of citizens, and the community supports him? The commission of citizens who upheld his firing represent the community. HE BROKE THE RULES, and got what he deserved for it.
When a judge over-rides what the employer (in this case, the Sheriff’s Department) and the civilian oversight committee (Civil Service Commission) say, it completely undermines the authority of the Sheriff to control his own department.
As for any alleged misdeeds of the Sheriff, that is up to the prosecutors and courts to decide what to do. If they do nothing, and there is SOLID PROOF that he acted in violation to his own departments policies, then complaints to higher authorities would be warranted. All you need to do is look at the mess that is the Seattle Police Department, and how the Chief of Police is not in control of his own department… and now the Justice Department is looking at them!
If this guy had not violated departmental procedure, he would not have been fired. The Civil Service Commission said that he should be fired for violating departmental procedure. A judge saying he should get his job back tells us that the judge supports a sworn peace officer violating the rules. That is the same thing as saying “go ahead and break any law you want, because you won’t get in trouble for it.”
Makes it hard to tell the cops to hold US accountable for OUR actions, when they aren’t being held accountable for THEIRS, wouldn’t you think?
So glad to hear this is heading in the right direction. I hope the Chronicle writes a complete article reminding the public about how this case unfolded. Specifically Sherrif Mansfields’ behavior regarding the alleged harboring of a minor at his residence. Also, the mistake that Mansfield made regarding not having an outside agency investigate him on the several allegations of mishandling the case from the start. The community supports Mr. Sprouse and we look forward to having him serve our community again.