Judge rules in deputy's case

Appalachian News Express: "A Mingo County judge sided with the Mingo Civil Service Commission in a case involving a duputy's suspension.

Circuit Court Judge Michael Thornsbury upheld the commission's decision to reinstate Sgt. R.G. Messer to his position with the sheriff's department. Messer was indefinitely suspended after he was accused of attempting to obtain payment for overtime he did not work.

In a decision rendered Sept. 19, 2006, the civil service commission reinstated Messer, who had been on an indefinite suspension since April 2006. The commission found that Sheriff Lonnie Hannah had not justified the suspension of Messer, who he claimed charged overtime for driving back and forth from the West Virginia State Police Academy in Institute, W.Va., when Messer had, in fact, rented a motel room there.

Messer, through his attorney C. Christopher Younger, alleged that Hannah had suspended him in retaliation for a grievance Messer had filed with a fellow deputy, Sgt. Randy Hatfield, concerning a lieutenant's exam."