SUMNER—A fairly large contingent of Lawrence County residents were expressing concern around mid-month in May when it was revealed that the village of Sumner had hired the county’s sheriff, Russell Adams, as a part-time police officer.
However, there’s nothing in Illinois law or within the Constitution (which directs the operations of a sheriff of a county) that prohibits such a thing.
The understandable concern county residents have is what Lawrence encountered years ago when the cops hired by the various burgs throughout the county were also doubling as county deputies.
At least a couple of these cops—St. Francisville’s Billy “PeeWee” Darnell being one—were double-dipping, charging their city when they were on the clock there, and charging the county for being “on the clock” with them as deputies if they “happened” to be called out of their city limits to respond to something miles away from their jurisdiction…but within the realm of those deputized.
The amount of overtime many of these “deputies” were raking in was unbelievable, all of it being obtained via FOIA by Disclosure in 2004.
Former sheriff Dennis Bridwell put an end to that practice that year by “un”deputizing the burgs’ cops.
However, that’s not a consideration in the case of the sheriff working for Sumner.
Adams is on salary with the county as an elected officeholder, so whatever he does for the county is covered under a salary and he doesn’t clock in any hourly time.
He does, however, work on the clock for Sumner, and so basically, all that amounts to is a “part-time” job, which a duly-elected officeholder is allowed to hold, be it as an officer, an ice cream truck driver, or whatever, in order to supplement income if necessary.
Adams has had some financial blows over the past couple of years just like many others in the area, so any supplemental income would be helpful.
There doesn’t appear to be any conflict, either, about which entity the sheriff represents if he were to make an arrest within the city limits of Sumner, as long as he’s verifiably “on the clock” with the village and operating within village limits when the arrest is made.
Anyone can get the sheriff’s Sumner employment schedule by submitting a FOIA (a standing FOIA is preferable) to city hall, in order to understand for which entity Adams is performing as an officer of the law should that ever become a question.
Adams lives a few miles outside of the village limits of Sumner and so doesn’t have far to travel in order to be on the job.