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

DATE: THURSDAY, August 17, 1995                   TAG: 9508170034
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

JUDGE: SHERIFF OWES EX-DEPUTY FOR DOG'S CARE

After Sheriff Carl Wells was late filing his opposing motion, U.S. District Judge Jackson Kiser granted the deputy's motion for summary judgment - that Wells is liable for overtime for canine care.

Retired Deputy Douglas Mayhew is seeking about $35,000 in overtime for caring for his dog, Gypsy, his attorney said.

A jury trial is scheduled for Nov. 20 to determine whether Mayhew is eligible for two years' or three years' worth of back pay under the statute of limitations, attorney Terry Grimes said.

Wells had argued that Gypsy, a black Labrador retriever, was Mayhew's personal pet and that the deputy volunteered the dog's services to the county when it needed help tracking someone.

Mayhew never asked for overtime to care for the dog, Wells said, although the deputy received compensatory time when he was called out after regular work hours for tracking. But the Fair Labor Standards Act does not allow employees to ``volunteer'' their time that way, Grimes said.

The sheriff also argued that since Mayhew was a drug- and alcohol-abuse prevention officer, and not officially part of a canine unit, taking care of Gypsy had nothing to do with his duties as a deputy. The use of Gypsy was through a separate contract he had with the sheriff, Wells said in court papers. In exchange, the Sheriff's Office paid for Gypsy's food, supplies and veterinary care.

Mayhew said he did not know he was entitled to overtime for taking care of Gypsy until he heard of other canine-care cases around the state that had been settled in favor of the dogs' handlers. Chesterfield County, Alexandria, Falls Church and Richmond are among localities that have had to pay officers for an additional 45 to 90 minutes of work each day to groom, feed and train their dogs.

Gypsy is now 13 years old and arthritic, but still likes to track in the woods just for fun, Mayhew said. In her day, she tracked lost children, elderly people, and bank robbery and murder suspects. Now when the Bedford County Sheriff's Office needs a tracking dog, they call the state police, Wells said.

``It's cheaper than going through court,'' he said.

Because Wells is a constitutional officer, the state is paying for his attorney and likely will pay any jury award or settlement.

Mayhew, who sued the sheriff in July 1994, retired in January on disability. In November 1993, Mayhew was demoted from the county's Drug Abuse Resistance Education officer to jailer. He was one of three deputies suspended for 60 days and then demoted for drinking while undercover at Smith Mountain Lake.

Although such behavior was considered unofficial policy, it became a public embarrassment for the department after Lt. Steve Rush was called from the lake to a murder scene. The convicted murderer, Beattie Coe, unsuccessfully sought a new trial because he argued that Rush was drunk when he arrived at the crime scene.

Mayhew testified at a hearing on Coe's motion for a new trial that he had been drinking at the lake under Rush's supervision. After an investigation into the allegations of undercover drinking the night of the murder, Mayhew, Rush and another deputy were suspended.