County enters executive session about sheriff's absence, tables conversation

May 24—Stephens County Sheriff Wayne McKinney's absence and the department's operations and employees topped the Commissioners routine agenda Monday morning.

With Commissioner Todd Churchman and Russell Morgan present and Kreg Murphree out on vacation, Churchman told the group gathered in the county board's office the District Attorney's office had recommended the item regarding the sheriff's standing and an executive session get tabled until next week.

At that time, District Attorney Jason Hicks, present in the room, said he was "going to suggest at least entering into executive session."

"Now, Commissioner Murphree is not here, and I think it's only fair for him to be here to hear any discussions but I think we can at least start whatever discussion now," Hicks said. "Which means, go ahead and go into executive session, and probably table it pending Commissioner Murphree's return."

The board followed Hicks' recommendation and entered into executive session. Sheriff McKinney joined for the first half before exiting. The commissioners carried on in executive session a while longer before reconvening the group of attendees in their board room.

"We visited with the Sheriff and we visited with the DA's Office," Churchman said upon return to open session. "We agreed with Kreg out of pocket to schedule another executive session."

Churchman said because Monday, May 30 is Memorial Day, the executive session will take place on Tuesday, May 31.

"On this particular item today, I make a motion we take no action on that and reschedule it for next Tuesday," Churchman said.

Hicks said he thought that motion sufficed.

"I think one-third of the county needs to be represented with Commissioner Murphree and I think it's only fitting that he be here," Hicks said. "I think this, as the chair is aware, Friday's special meeting was moved to today. There was a (miscommunication) with Mr. Murphree and that's why that meeting didn't happen."

The motion received a second from Morgan and passed.

McKinney's absence was first mentioned on May 17 after claims arose on social media the sheriff had been out of office for nearly 90 days.

On Wednesday, May 18, McKinney contacted The Banner from an Alabama phone number, stating he and his wife, Central High Mayor Julie McKinney, originally left on vacation but ran into trouble with their newly acquired motorhome on the way back.

During the call, McKinney said his dog also spent an extensive time under veterinarian care and that he and wife both fell ill while waiting for the motor home repairs to reach completion.

In a meeting with The Banner on Monday following the commissioners meeting, Julie and Wayne McKinney expanded on their vacation and how it fell apart on the couple's way home.

The trip, initially only meant to be 10 days long, had a destination of Florida to obtain the motor home — something that was supposed to be an investment for the McKinneys, they said.

The couple and their two dogs, loaded down with equipment to stock and live in their new home for the 10 day trip, took to the road.

They broke down on the way home on I-10 in Florida after obtaining the new motorhome — a model they usually only make 20 of a year.

"It was an investment for us," Wayne McKinney said. "It's like having a house is what it equates too, it costs as much as a lot of houses, and it's something that we had to follow up on to make sure that it was taken care of. It wasn't a little camper."

The McKinneys said they stayed on the side of the highway for nearly a day upon the initial breakdown waiting for help. The Sheriff said an individual eventually stopped to help them and they were able to make their way to Tiffin Motorhomes — the manufacturer — in Red Bay, Alabama for further assistance.

They ran into more troubles at this time because of supply chain issues, Wayne McKinney said.

"It's a 40-foot motorhome, diesel pusher motor, so it's something that you just can't get a tow truck on and pull it off the road," Wayne McKinney said. "You can't do that. So we had to do what the manufacturer of the motorhome was asking us to do in order to get the repairs completed, which we were hoping would happen in a timely manner."

One of their dogs then became sick, Julie said, and they learned the pup became diabetic. That led to extensive care for the animal and a stay in intensive care for another 14 days. Leaving the dog behind wasn't an option.

"Our animals are almost our children," Julie McKinney said. "They're like children to us, or our family members, and we always love them and we'll always take care of them, no matter what happens."

Sheriff McKinney said as pet owners, it's their responsibility to provide for the animal.

"It's the same way I have handled myself when there's animal cases in our county," Sheriff McKinney said. "The animal has to rely on us. We took the responsibility as owners of this pet ... This was a way to save its life, by putting it in ICU, in that hospital ... It's very, very expensive, but it didn't matter to us at that time. It had to be done."

The couple also became sick — Wayne first, and then Julie, the couple said. They both tested negative for flu and covid, they said.

"I'm private about my health," Wayne McKinney said of the illness that lasted for nearly two weeks, "but it got so bad I nearly had a hospital stay. I was very, very sick."

Sick and cramped in close quarters while they waited for the repairs to their motorhome, their dog again began to have problems, they said, resulting in more vet care. By this point, the McKinney's said it was one bad thing after another.

"There was one bad thing after another," Julie McKinney said, "we though it wouldn't be that big of a deal but it kept getting worse."

The sheriff agreed by saying, "It's just been a nightmare."

"If you combine that all together," Wayne McKinney said, "it just made that situation so much worse."

They maintained they had low signal but stayed in contact with their operations — Julie as Mayor of Central, helping oversee ARPA funding throughout the time, and Wayne as Sheriff, helping with personnel issues and any department concerns that arose.

Previously, Captain Bill Perkins confirmed SCSO had remained in contact with McKinney during his leave.

The sheriff, frustrated, he said, took it up with the owner of the motorhome company. He said the owner agreed something needed to be done and brought legal counsel in to help navigate the situation.

"The manufacturers have bent over backwards to do the right thing and they're doing the right thing," Wayne said.

Julie said it was like they were having to move all over again.

"It's like having a house — we have to have eating utensils, we have food, we have sleeping equipment, we have to have clothes," she said. "And we carried all that stuff anticipating just a short stay. The short stay ended up being longer and so we had to get even more things for the motorhome so that we could continue to live and then all of a sudden, now we've got all the stuff so we had to rent a storage container for it and leave it to get home."

She said they hadn't planned to be gone for so long and it showed at their home when they finally returned to Stephens County.

On May 19, the McKinneys finally signed paperwork with the company to get their situation settled to replace the new motorhome experiencing a fluke, Wayne said.

With supply chain issues continuing, their new home, having to be rebuilt, now won't be ready for almost another year.

As for department concerns, Sheriff McKinney said he's stayed busy since he's been back, but knows his organization maintained its standards despite his absence.

"I have made that a policy of mine in the 14 years I've been sheriff here," the sheriff said. "We have accomplished a lot. Wayne McKinney is not the one that accomplished all of that. That was my policy, my organization of the sheriff's office and putting the right people in the right positions. This office functions whether I'm there or not. I'm not a micromanager. I empower my management people to do a job. I let them do the job and I leave them alone unless there's a big problem they bring me in on. But this functions with or without me physically there ... I'm very proud of it."

The Sheriff said he will now turn his attention to filling the undersheriff position.

The Commissioners will convene again at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, May 31 when they will continue the executive session.