Steuben manager details county's position in dispute with sheriff. Allard responds.

Steuben County Manager Jack Wheeler released a statement Friday afternoon detailing the county's position in an ongoing dispute with Sheriff Jim Allard.

Steuben County officials are currently awaiting the result of an appeal seeking to overturn a recent decision that would allow Allard's attorney to depose a Steuben County legislator regarding statements made in executive sessions prior to a Sept. 25, 2023 vote not to indemnify Allard’s position. 

The county resolution essentially required the sheriff to obtain his own insurance. Allard has since challenged the vote in court.

Wheeler said the county's decision was fueled by pending lawsuits against the Sheriff's Office and rising insurance costs.

“Of the 30 or so lawsuits or claims pending against the 32 departments of county government, 17 of those are being brought against just one department, the Sheriff’s Office,” Wheeler said. “That’s the most amount of potential or actual lawsuits against any one county department in modern memory."

Wheeler said at the same time these claims were climbing, the county’s insurance provider took action that increased the county's financial risk.

“They told us that what is essentially the county’s 'deductible' — the amount taxpayers must pay before insurance starts paying for a claim — has been raised from $500,000 to $750,000,” Wheeler said. “That’s for each potential claim.”

The county legislature also voted to rescind previous permission to pay any legal fees or judgments brought against Allard, which Wheeler characterized as a "last resort."

In a follow-up interview, Allard said the county manager’s statement is "confusing and misinformed."

“It is unfortunate that as we try to move forward with a functional government that the manager still feels the need to issue a statement on something that could have been solved months ago,” Allard said. “I encourage our taxpayers to look into the amount of money that the county administration has spent mischaracterizing the issues to the public.”

Wheeler also said Allard violated Steuben County policy and best practices in law enforcement by trying to investigate his own department’s personnel matters, specifically harassment and discrimination claims.

“When there’s a credible harassment or discrimination claim in any other county department, the proper procedure is to bring in an outside investigator to look into it,” Wheeler said. “The Sheriff insists on investigating himself. There is no state law that requires the Sheriff’s Office to investigate such claims on their own.”

Allard disagreed.

“Division of Criminal Justice Services law enforcement accreditation standards best practice is that our agency has that policy that we have to investigate all sexual harassment complaints against police members,” Allard said. “That is the best practice and that is the way we do it.”

Wheeler said Allard was not protecting county taxpayers from liability, and the legislature was "forced to take action."

“Rather than allow taxpayers to be put at risk for the Sheriff’s actions and inactions, now the Sheriff himself will be on the hook," said Wheeler.

On Jan. 22, State Supreme Court Justice Jason Cook issued an order allowing a legislator to be deposed under oath, finding that the deposition “is material and necessary to establish whether the county acted in bad faith regarding the executive session held and subsequent passage by the Steuben County Legislator of Steuben County Resolution 183-23.”

The county appealed the decision shortly thereafter.

“By law, legislators can discuss certain confidential items in executive sessions,” Wheeler said. “That is all that was done here.”

Sheriff's deputies and other employees remain covered by full liability insurance.

This article originally appeared on The Leader: Steuben: Rising lawsuits, insurance costs led to sheriff's dispute