# Deputy fired after being elected Sheriff. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 8, 2018, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deputy-fired-after-being-elected-sheriff/815721 "2018-06-08T21:05:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2018, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deputy-fired-after-being-elected-sheriff/815721/21 "2018-06-10T03:31:55Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > His insurance probably won’t lapse. It may end on the last day of the month he was terminated and if he gets rehired during the same month they can probably cancel the cancellation. Also, assuming it’s decided that he will become Sheriff, they could probably just transfer him elsewhere in the county, if for no other reason, to keep his payroll/pension/insurance/seniority in tact. > > But, in any case, he should be able to switch to COBRA and pony up the money for the premium until he can enroll again. It should be 90 days at most. No. e doesn’t take office as Sheriff until January, 2019 - 7 months from now. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2018, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deputy-fired-after-being-elected-sheriff/815721/22 "2018-06-10T03:41:52Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > The above is correct. Since there aren’t any candidates from other parties running, the winner of the Republican primary becomes Sheriff and an election is not held in November. The same thing happened in my county. It hardly seems fair but that’s the way it is. Even if there was another party candidate and an election was held in November, the Republican would more than likely have won anyway because South Dakota is a very Republican state. I never heard of an election _not_ being held after a primary, even if you feel it’s only a formality. Are you sure this is the state law? And winning an election after a successful primary is far from a sure thing in my experience. I can remember several cases of local elections won by writein votes; one happened when a pissed-off, non-candidate decided to run on Sunday when the election was Tuesday. After a phone campaign, he won (town chairman). ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2018, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deputy-fired-after-being-elected-sheriff/815721/23 "2018-06-10T04:29:19Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > I never heard of an election _not_ being held after a primary, even if you feel it’s only a formality. Are you sure this is the state law? > > And winning an election after a successful primary is far from a sure thing in my experience. I can remember several cases of local elections won by writein votes; one happened when a pissed-off, non-candidate decided to run on Sunday when the election was Tuesday. After a phone campaign, he won (town chairman). Here’s a [cite](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/what-are-state-write-rules-candidates-n664536): > [@](#): > > Different states have different rules for write-in candidates, but they can be divided into three broad categories. Nine states—Arkansas, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina and South Dakota—won’t accept any write-ins at all. ETA: about no write-ins allowed. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2018, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deputy-fired-after-being-elected-sheriff/815721/24 "2018-06-10T04:45:40Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > The deputy might have some basis to protest his firing, arguing it was based on retaliation, but I am not a lawyer and can’t say for sure. > [@Chimera](#): > > Since he was threatened with termination upon telling his boss that he was filing for the position, he may have a strong case that this is simple retaliation. Is it illegal to retaliate against employees for seeking a promotion in South Dakota? ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2018, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deputy-fired-after-being-elected-sheriff/815721/25 "2018-06-10T20:04:20Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > His insurance probably won’t lapse. It may end on the last day of the month he was terminated and if he gets rehired during the same month they can probably cancel the cancellation. Also, assuming it’s decided that he will become Sheriff, they could probably just transfer him elsewhere in the county, if for no other reason, to keep his payroll/pension/insurance/seniority in tact. > > But, in any case, he should be able to switch to COBRA and pony up the money for the premium until he can enroll again. It should be 90 days at most. I have looked into COBRA before, and the cost was ludicrous. It was more than my rent and utilities combined. It would have been impossible even if I had a job, but obviously, I didn’t, and I couldn’t possibly get a job with a comparable salary for three months, because I’m a teacher. I suspect this deputy and many people find themselves in a similar situation. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2018, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deputy-fired-after-being-elected-sheriff/815721/26 "2018-06-10T20:33:02Z")
> [@CelticKnot](#): > > I have looked into COBRA before, and the cost was ludicrous. It was more than my rent and utilities combined. It would have been impossible even if I had a job, but obviously, I didn’t, and I couldn’t possibly get a job with a comparable salary for three months, because I’m a teacher. > I suspect this deputy and many people find themselves in a similar situation. That’s an interesting statement. I wonder how many Americans don’t really know how much health insurance premiums are because they’ve always gotten it through their employment? And how much this colors the debate? ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2018, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deputy-fired-after-being-elected-sheriff/815721/27 "2018-06-10T20:46:07Z")
> [@Red\_Wiggler](#): > > That’s an interesting statement. I wonder how many Americans don’t really know how much health insurance premiums are because they’ve always gotten it through their employment? And how much this colors the debate? I have a feeling many people didn’t know until they needed to get insurance on their own. Now that many employers can’t afford all the new requirements and have cut insurance and employee hours, people know. My husband has insurance through his employer. If I were to go onto his plan now, it would cost $800 per month. That is more than his take-home pay. To go through a state exchange is more. I wonder how many politicians and bureaucrats who make these decisions have no clue about how real people live and pay the bills. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2018, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deputy-fired-after-being-elected-sheriff/815721/28 "2018-06-10T20:50:56Z")
On my 2017 W-2 form, line DD shows the “cost of employer-sponsored health coverage”, so most people have the information available to them. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2018, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deputy-fired-after-being-elected-sheriff/815721/29 "2018-06-10T21:19:35Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > The article garbles it a little\*, but it sounds like he was an at-will employee, so probably not. It’s illegal to discriminate against employees based on political activity in some states, but it doesn’t look like it is in South Dakota. But usually, \*public \*employment is \*not \*completely “at will”. So in SD, county employment is still “at will”? Or is it that a sherriff’s deputy is considered an appointment to office (thus at the pleasure of the appointing authority) rather than career employment? More to the point, really, some people are living arguments for a law against Being A Dick in Performance of Duties of Public Office. > [@Musicat](#): > > I never heard of an election _not_ being held after a primary, even if you feel it’s only a formality. Are you sure this is the state law? Depending on how the ballot is configured, in many places unopposed candidates’ names appear on the ballot just like those of people in competitive races, but there will be no other names in that column and certification as official-elect with however many voters bother is a foregone conclusion. However, in South Dakota [the law (large PDF)](https://sdsos.gov/elections-voting/assets/2017ElectionCode.pdf) does provide specifically: > [@South Dakota Elections Code](#): > > ``` > 12-16-1.1. Automatic election of unopposed candidate--Certificate of election. > > ``` > > Any candidate who has been duly nominated to an elective office except State Legislature, political or nonpolitical, having no opposing candidate at the general election shall automatically be elected and the county auditor or secretary of state, as the case may be, shall, following the official canvass, issue a certificate of election to such candidate and his name shall not be printed on the general election ballot. So the deputy is sherriff-elect upon the county auditor’s certification of the official canvass. State legislator candidates apparently still have to go through the ritual. > [@Doug\_K](#): > > Here’s a [cite](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/what-are-state-write-rules-candidates-n664536): > > ETA: about no write-ins allowed. As mentioned there are many jurisdictions where provisions have been made so that nobody who was not declared one way or the other before the primary may enter the race as a latecomer, or do so only under burdensome terms. Since the parties control the statehouses they naturally seek to assert party discipline through various means to prevent a “sore loser” challenge or some outside spoiler showing up late and fresh while everyone else is bruised and tired and in the red. When you add that in the current political eras, very often the local party organization is a skeleton outfit with hardly any resources of its own, and the expectation or even the legal requirement (depending on jurisdiction) is that until after the nomination is official and the state or county convention is held any aspiring candidate must raise her/his own funds and organize her/his own campaign schedule, too often what happens is that a party may not even be able to summon up a placeholder candidate to prevent an unopposed General Election. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2018, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deputy-fired-after-being-elected-sheriff/815721/30 "2018-06-11T01:25:22Z")
Wow. What a perversion of the democratic process that is. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2018, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deputy-fired-after-being-elected-sheriff/815721/31 "2018-06-11T02:08:40Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Maybe his supporters will find the deputy a temp job? Perhaps working in a store, driving a truck, or construction. > > It would bring in much needed income until Jan. He’s meeting with the County Commissioners this week. They get along, some of them publicly supported him over the incumbent sheriff in the election. Possibly they will be able to find him a temporary position in the county government, maybe related to law enforcement. Bailiff in County Court? Assistant County Probation Officer? Something like that will allow him to stay a county employee, thus his family health coverage continues without interruption, and he continues to build his pension. Neither of those would happen if his supporters found him a temporary job in another field. ---
**Author:** ![PoppaSan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/poppasan/32/189_2.png) [@PoppaSan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoppaSan)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2018, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deputy-fired-after-being-elected-sheriff/815721/32 "2018-06-11T09:52:12Z")
> [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](#): > > He’s meeting with the County Commissioners this week. They get along, some of them publicly supported him over the incumbent sheriff in the election. Possibly they will be able to find him a temporary position in the county government, maybe related to law enforcement. Bailiff in County Court? Assistant County Probation Officer? > > Something like that will allow him to stay a county employee, thus his family health coverage continues without interruption, and he continues to build his pension. Neither of those would happen if his supporters found him a temporary job in another field. Could they find a way to remove Sheriff Dickhead and appoint the new guy as a placeholder? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2018, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deputy-fired-after-being-elected-sheriff/815721/33 "2018-06-11T12:53:15Z")
> [@PoppaSan](#): > > Could they find a way to remove Sheriff Dickhead and appoint the new guy as a placeholder? Probably not, since it’s an elected position. He might be subject to recall, but that would likely require a petition and then another election, which could take quite a while. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2018, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deputy-fired-after-being-elected-sheriff/815721/34 "2018-06-11T14:39:45Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > Is it illegal to retaliate against employees for seeking a promotion in South Dakota? It’s not a promotion it’s an elected office. The position of sheriff is unique in law enforcement. It is an elected position. His authority as a law enforcement officer is derived from the votes of the people. The deputies under him get their authority through the sheriff when they are deputized. Without the sheriff they have no authority and he can withdraw it at any time. The fact that the authority comes from the vote of the prople is the reason why sovereign citizens cling to the notion that sheriffs are the only true police. The power of the sheriff varies from state to state. In my state the sheriff is relatively weak with limited jurisdiction. The county sheriff department is a mix of civil service and appointed officers. Those under civil service are safe and can only be terminated for cause. For those appointed the day after an election can look like the Red Wedding. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2018, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deputy-fired-after-being-elected-sheriff/815721/35 "2018-06-11T18:39:53Z")
Eventually these two men should meet and plan the transition. That’s going to be awkward. Very awkward. 😉 I guess the current Sheriff could just turn in his equipment and leave New Years Eve. Without any regard for the dept he ran and the men he trained. Hopefully he cares enough about the dept that he’ll at least brief the new guy. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2018, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deputy-fired-after-being-elected-sheriff/815721/36 "2018-06-11T18:54:06Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > The fact that the authority comes from the vote of the prople is the reason why sovereign citizens cling to the notion that sheriffs are the only true police. Does the sheriff consult all the sovereign citizens by conference call before arresting anyone? No quorum, no arrest? Sovereign citizens don’t think their elected representatives are capable of finding competent police? I understand the idea “some people are stupid, and it would be better to keep stupid people out of responsible positions” - but it sounds like the sovereign citizen says “ **everyone except me** is stupid, and I demand to be my own police, my own judge and jury, and my own jail warden too”. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2018, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deputy-fired-after-being-elected-sheriff/815721/37 "2018-06-11T20:38:40Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Eventually these two men should meet and plan the transition. That’s going to be awkward. Very awkward. 😉 > > I guess the current Sheriff could just turn in his equipment and leave New Years Eve. Without any regard for the dept he ran and the men he trained. > > Hopefully he cares enough about the dept that he’ll at least brief the new guy. Actually, the outgoing sheriff will probably do the minimum to brief the new guy. But the new guy may not want much briefing – he intends to change a lot of the way things were run under the old sheriff, anyway. Plus he was there as a deputy; he knows how things worked (or didn’t work). And presumably he’ll keep most of the existing deputies, who can tell him how things work. (Some of them quietly encouraged him to run against the old sheriff.) He could also keep the current secretary & clerk – those people have an awful lot to do with keeping the office running efficiently. So he’ll have a lot of experienced people continuing in the office, to help him get organized. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2018, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deputy-fired-after-being-elected-sheriff/815721/38 "2018-06-11T20:56:04Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#): > > Does the sheriff consult all the sovereign citizens by conference call before arresting anyone? No quorum, no arrest? Sovereign citizens don’t think their elected representatives are capable of finding competent police? > > I understand the idea “some people are stupid, and it would be better to keep stupid people out of responsible positions” - but it sounds like the sovereign citizen says “ **everyone except me** is stupid, and I demand to be my own police, my own judge and jury, and my own jail warden too”. Don’t try to get me to explain their philosophy because it’s a mishmash of cherry picked documents and common law. In general they feel that the articles of confederation or the Magna Carta or Jefferson’s dry cleaning bill shows that the legally elected sheriff is the only person with legal authority. It’s illegal for the federal government to have police. It’s illegal for local government to have police. Needless to say their philosophy doesn’t work out too well for them. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2018, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deputy-fired-after-being-elected-sheriff/815721/39 "2018-06-12T01:17:34Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Wow. What a perversion of the democratic process that is. 😕 What is? That if there’s one candidate, that candidate wins? Sometimes I vote and there’s no candidate in a spot on the ballot, because nobody wanted the job. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2018, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deputy-fired-after-being-elected-sheriff/815721/40 "2018-06-12T02:15:15Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Not automatically, they still need to hold an election in the Fall. It’s amazing how hard it is to beat down the false assumption that the laws are the same in every state. You’re living proof of how hard it is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deputy-fired-after-being-elected-sheriff/815721.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deputy-fired-after-being-elected-sheriff/815721.md?page=3)