Lauffer of Lebanon was fired in May 2008 after he admitted driving drunk and routinely calling dispatch to find out where deputies were patrolling. He also was accused of shielding a friend from a domestic violence investigation.
An arbitrator ruled the sheriff’s office should not have fired the deputy, and a Warren County magistrate released a ruling Oct. 2 agreeing with the rehiring, saying the award was not “arbitrary, capricious or unlawful.”
Sims said he wasn’t surprised Lauffer resigned given the publicity the case drew. Last week, the county commissioners expressed outrage that Magistrate Andrew Hasselbach ruled Lauffer could return to the department. Commissioner Mike Kilburn event threatened to ask Common Pleas Judge James Flannery to fire his magistrate.
Sims said he does not fault Hasselbach, and in fact found his ruling to be well reasoned.
“We felt the magistrate did what he was supposed to do,” he said. “If anybody got it wrong in our opinion it was the arbitrator. The role the magistrate had, had such limitations. We knew going into it that it was an uphill battle to get the arbitrator’s ruling overturned because of our contractual language for binding arbitration.”
Flannery said he could not ethically discuss Kilburn’s demand that he fire Hasselbach. However, local attorney Charlie Rittgers said he was willing to speak on Flannery’s behalf, to educate people on how the law and government work.
“We are trying to educate the public that we are a nation of laws and that decisions based on solid, long standing law and the commissioner’s comments ignore the very principles of our democracy,” he said. “We have three branches of government that act as checks upon each other.”
Elected county officials have no right to tell other elected officials who they can hire or fire, Rittgers said.
Kilburn said his tirade may have solved the problem, adding the public outrage likely influenced Lauffer’s decision to quit.
“The general public doesn’t pay me to accept findings we can’t live with,” he said. “Larry Sims said he couldn’t live with it. What’s he going to do with guy; no one can work with him. The law is the law, but common sense has to show up.”
Lauffer, who was not charged with a crime after an investigation by the prosecutor’s office, could not be reached for comment.
Contact this reporter at (513) 696-4525 or dcallahan@coxohio.com.
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