Chief deputy retires, rehired by county sheriff

By http://www.middletownjournal.com/services/staff/567543.html - 9:47 PM Monday, April 11, 2011

HAMILTON — Butler County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Anthony Dwyer is taking a 15 percent cut to keep his job, which now pays $90,000 a year.

Dwyer, 48, retired on March 31 and was rehired on April 4. The practice, also known as double dipping, involves a government employee retiring to draw a pension and retaining a government job.

“It’s not uncommon for people to reach retirement age and take other jobs,” Dwyer said referring to others in the county who retired and were hired in a different jurisdiction. “That was an option that was open to me and I was looking at that option, quite frankly.”

Dwyer said Sheriff Richard K. Jones wanted to keep the long-time chief deputy who started his career working in the county jail at 21.

In addition to the cut in pay — which went from $105,941.48 to $90,050.48 — Dwyer said he wanted to stay in his current job, second-in-command in the sheriff’s office hierarchy. Though he is “retired.” he said he wasn’t ready to quit working.

As part of the agreement, the standard 18.1 percent match into the state retirement program is reduced to 14 percent and now paid into an annuity, a post-retirement savings account.

Dwyer also gives up his accrued sick hours. In his retirement package, the chief deputy was paid 320 hours of sick time; he had accrued 2,732 hours.

“He’s got his time in and was looking to draw his retirement and put his time in elsewhere,” Jones said. “I need him right where he is. He’s a very valuable employee to me.”

Jones said he’s reduced in half the number of majors and captains in his administration in recent years.

Dwyer said he believes many people don’t fully understand the retire-rehire process.

“Sometimes they don’t understand that if I left ... there’s still going to be someone going to be taking my spot,” he said.

Sgt. Jeff Gebhart, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 101 which represents the sheriff deputies, said it’s what the system allows.

“He has a lot of experience that’s important to the operations to the sheriff’s office,” he said.

Contact this reporter at (513)

820-2175

or

mpitman

@coxohio.com.

Follow at twitter.com/mdpitman.