Jailer to get job back after military service (10/17/05)

A former county jailer who has spent the last four years in the United States Air Force wants his old job back, and federal law says he’s entitled to it.

Jay County Commissioners agreed this morning to ask for additional money so that a current jailer won’t have to be released to make room for Nathan Keever.

Keever, who will be formally released from military service Oct. 23, notified Jay County Sheriff Todd Penrod of his intention to leave for military service when he left employment four years ago.

Keever also notified Penrod of his intention to return to employment with Jay County on the day of his discharge. Under federal law, the county must give Keever his old position or a comparable one within 30 days of the time he leaves the service.

Mitch Sutton, chief deputy with the Jay County Sheriff’s Department, said he and Penrod would like “the best of both worlds. We want to keep (Keever) and not lay anyone off ... that’s an ... opportunity to add more jail staff.”

Jonna Reece, the county’s contract human resources consultant, explained federal law to the commissioners and also lobbied for a solution which would not require a layoff. Sutton told the commissioners that state jail inspectors have cited the Jay County Jail for a lower-than-required level of staffing at the jail.

Reece said the citations could hurt the county’s chances of success in the event that litigation is filed in the future charging inadequate supervision or staffing at the jail.

“We’re going to give (Keever) a job. That’s just the way it is,” Commissioner Gary Theurer said this morning. He and fellow Commissioner Faron Parr agreed to allow Penrod to ask Jay County Council for an additional appropriation that would allow Keever to be re-hired and all current staff retained, as well.

Commissioners’ president Milo Miller Jr. was not present at today’s session.

Also this morning, Parr and Theurer signed a contract changing the county’s tax-billing software to a Windows-based system at the recommendation of a county technology committee.

The software and services from Plexis Group will cost $65,400, but county auditor Freda Corwin said the annual amount spent for support and other services will be less than the amount under the current system.

“This (software) seems to be the most user-friendly,” said Parr, a member of the committee and the owner of Progressive Office Products.

Approximately $20,000 in new hardware will be needed to replace the current VAX computer, which was purchased in the early 1990s.[[In-content Ad]]