
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 12, 1992                   TAG: 9203120257
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: STATE  
SOURCE: Southwest bureau
DATELINE: WYTHEVILLE                                LENGTH: Short

FLAGGING AN ERROR STARTS COMPLAINT

A former Wythe County administrator complained to the Board of Supervisors Tuesday that the current administrator embarrassed him when he made a complaint about how the flag was displayed at the county courthouse recently.

B.J. Hansen said the U.S. flag was at half-staff on an occasion when only the state flag was supposed to be at half-staff.

When he contacted County Administrator Billy Branson about it, Hansen said, Branson embarrassed him by responding abrasively in front of another county employee.

Several supervisors said they did not believe that any flag display error was deliberate, but said they would look into how Hansen's complaint was handled.

They declined to look into the separation of Sam Burcham from the Wythe County Sheriff's Department, however, after Debbie Hancock presented a petition with more than 1,000 signatures calling for Burcham's reinstatement as a deputy.

Board Chairman Andy Kegley said the supervisors could not tell Sheriff Wayne Pike what to do.

No statement from either side has been made about the circumstances of Burcham's leaving the department.

by CNB