Shown are members of the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Merit Board, from left, Alan Alderfer, Travis McConnell, Antony Garza, and Gabe Douglas. Photos by Shari Benyousky.

By Shari Benyousky
Guest Columnist

KOSCIUSKO COUNTY — “Compensation? Well, we get $15 a meeting if that’s what you mean,” Merit Board Member Attorney Travis McConnell chuckled. “We don’t serve for the money.”

I frowned, realizing how much I didn’t know about behind-the-scenes county service. For example, why did the board members serve if not for compensation? How did they serve? I had other questions too: What was a merit board? Who was a merit officer?

Where does the Merit Board meet? On a frigid December Wednesday I braved the freezing rain to walk across the parking lot north of the Justice Building to find answers. I entered the Justice Building at the north end at the sheriff’s door, walked down a long hallway hung with red and green Christmas bulbs, and sat with my legal pad in a nondescript tan room. The members of the merit board sat around a few tables at the head of the room, a sheriff’s brown flag on one end and the American flag at the other.

Hallway to the training room for the merit board meeting.

A hundred feet away, behind many other nondescript tan walls, XXX prisoners paced and slept and cried and did whatever someone incarcerated did in an 8-foot cell. Although technically the merit board always begins as a public meeting, it seems that it’s usually just these five members and a few guests each month. Not many people know the board even exists. Today, however, was the last meeting under one sheriff and the changing of the guard to a new one, so at least 10 guests watched the proceedings.

Who are the merit board members? The members of the merit board arrived from their various professions, rubbed their cold hands together, and greeted one another warmly. According to Indiana Codes these members were chosen or elected every four years, so they had gotten to know each other well.

Represented amongst the guests was a new face, Sheriff-Elect Jim Smith who would be in charge of appointing three of the board members at the beginning of his term in January, two of his own party and one of the opposing party. Smith wore a blue plaid shirt and voiced thanks to the merit board for their four years of service. At this last of-an-era meeting, the members chosen by Sheriff Kyle Dukes present included local Attorney Antony Garza and Gabe Douglas, general manager of Rice Ford. Absent was retired former County Commissioner and Merit Board President Ron Truex. The other two members present, the ones elected by the merit deputies themselves, were Attorney Travis McConnell and Financial Planner Alan Alderfer. One of these two elected members would always be a Republican and the other a Democrat according to the Indiana State Code.

Alderfer settled his black fedora on the table in the brief heavy moment as everyone took in the understanding that this was the last meeting with these members. Dukes tapped his brown loafers as Board Secretary Tony Garza, filling in for President Truex, called the meeting to order.

“What’s a merit deputy?” I asked Garza in a phone call prior to the meeting. He explained merit officers had arrest authority which differentiated from civilian officers or staff. The merit board existed to support these deputies specifically. They oversaw the pension for these deputies and helped to locate and vet potential merit officers for hire. The merit board also helped with disciplinary functions. For example, if a sheriff wanted to suspend such an officer for more than 15 days or terminate them, the officer has a right to have a hearing in front of the board. “We haven’t had any of these hearings in the last four years though,” Garza clarified.

Wall detail in the training room.

“How much time to you spend on the merit bBoard every month?” I asked President Ron Truex by phone. I could hear his grin through the phone. “Well, that can range from 3-4 hours a month to 3-4 days a month, depending on what’s happening.” By what’s happening he meant his job had taken more time of late in order to smooth the transition from one sheriff’s organizational style to another’s. I thought of this comment as I listened to Chief Deputy Sheriff Shane Bucher hold up a small black bag and describe the SOTOXA, a portable handheld breathalyzer for drugs officers would soon be trained on. This was Bucher’s last time doing this merit board briefing as well. Someone else would soon be doing the briefings about officer trainings and equipment.

“What do you wish the public knew about the merit board?” I asked Garza. “Well, the board exists to support the merit officers,” he considered. “But, at the end of the meeting, anyone present is invited so speak. The public should know that their concerns are heard here.” He paused and repeated, “The public should know that their concerns are heard.”

I thought about those around the table, some dressed in suits and others in tennis shoes, all of them listening to the briefings politely and with insightful questions. I realized that our county is quite fortunate to have people willing to serve, support, and give of their precious work time.

The public portion of the meeting ended and those of us present representing the public or the local newspapers shrugged back into our winter coats, nodded at one another, and straightened our chairs. The door closed behind us although the merit board still sat around the table going into the non-public executive session portion of the meeting. They still had many miles before they finished.

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