ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 28, 1995 TAG: 9512280053
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
Two of retiring Montgomery County Sheriff Ken Phipps' top men were notified Wednesday that they will not be appointed as deputies under the new administration.
Chief Deputy Dan Haga, whom Doug Marrs defeated for the Republican nomination on his way to winning a four-way race for sheriff in November, received a letter notifying him he would not be reappointed.
So did O.P. Ramsey, Phipps' captain of law enforcement who ran as an independent candidate for sheriff.
Marrs, who took his oath of office Wednesday at 5 p.m., began notifying sheriff's department employees this week whether they still had jobs with his administration. Last week, he spent three days interviewing for the 90-some positions at the Sheriff's Office.
Workers at the Sheriff's Office said it appeared people who still had jobs were notified by phone while letters were sent to those who would not be reappointed.
By noon, Haga and Ramsey were the only ones to receive letters. Forty deputies were re-sworn throughout the day by Allan Burke, Circuit Court clerk.
Marrs has been tight-lipped about the appointment process, saying there is work to be done before he can publicly comment on who his chief deputy will be. He said the lateness of the interviews and appointments are tied to the lateness of state-sponsored seminars designed to help prepare new sheriffs for their responsibilities.
Marrs said he will name his chief deputy this week.
State code says that deputies serve at the pleasure of the sheriff.
As Phipps did, Marrs may bring his top policy-making deputies, such as chief deputy, in with him. On Wednesday, Phipps, who brought Haga and Ramsey with him to the Sheriff's Office in 1992 and who did not reappoint some deputies when he took office, said he was dismayed that the two men lost their jobs.
"I'm disappointed that the Sheriff's Office is losing good experience. ... These guys have been an asset to the Sheriff's Office," Phipps said. "I hate to see anyone with this many years law enforcement experience be lost."
Phipps said Marrs has spoken with him as part of the transition.
"He's been in here a couple, three times. I gave him some stuff, some information," Phipps said.
Phipps had said the transition this time would be better than the transition between former Sheriff Louis Barber's tenure and Phipps' watch.
It appears it has, but three hires made by Phipps in his final week as sheriff could be interpreted as a test by the outgoing administration to see if Marrs reappoints them.
Phipps says the hires - for a jail, dispatch and crime-prevention position - were vacancies that he needed to fill.
"It's on my watch. ... The people left on my watch so generally what we do is replace these vacancies as soon as possible, just go ahead and do it just like it's the middle of the term not the end."
Phipps said Barber made a hire in December 1991 for a jail position and he kept that employee. He hopes Marrs will keep the three people he hired this week.
Phipps decided not to run for re-election to a second term. A Republican and a retired Virginia state trooper, Phipps won the sheriff's office in 1991 by defeating 15-year Democratic incumbent Barber.
Phipps nominated Haga at the Republican mass meeting in May.
But Marrs, lieutenant of investigations of the Christiansburg Police Department, won the nomination.
Ramsey announced his candidacy as an independent in June, and Phipps then threw his support behind Ramsey.
Marrs, who waged an aggressive door-to-door campaign, won the four-way election in November by capturing 40.6 percent of the vote.
He was sworn in Wednesday by Circuit Judge Ray Grubbs. About 40 people attended the ceremony, including law enforcement representatives from Christiansburg Police Department, state police and Sheriff's Office deputies.
LENGTH: Medium: 76 linesby CNB