The case against Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Stanko is headed to mediation.  The case against the sheriff includes allegations of misconduct.

In May 2018, former Jefferson County Sheriff’s Captain Mike Stringer contacted the city via a letter that requested a $250,000 settlement or mediation regarding his complaints against Stanko.  Stringer claims Stanko “harassed and ridiculed him,” and attempted a demotion without cause.  Stringer believes Stanko was trying to force him into early retirement and he eventually chose to retire, 10 years earlier than he intended, according to his statements.  Stringer also requested the county pay for the mediation if that was the course that was chosen.

An investigation was held in February regarding the allegations raised by Stringer.  It was handled by an independent investigator who found all claims against the sheriff were unfounded.  The investigator found no basis of any violations of laws or policies by Stanko, but did include a note in his report regarding Stanko’s comments, stating the alleged comments seem “out of place in today’s professional law enforcement working environment. ”

Following the investigation, Stanko emailed the county telling them he had been exonerated of all allegations.  According to the email, Stringer’s claims were still be looked at by the county’s risk pool.

Stanko is currently running for re-election against a detective he had appointed undersheriff in 2014.  He later demoted his appointee and appointed a different undersheriff.

The local newspaper filed a public records request in February asking to view all complaints that had been filed against Stanko.  The paper reportedly received hundreds of pages of information regarding the incident.