Trial set in Chesco sheriff overtime dispute
WEST CHESTER >> The dispute over contested overtime payments to outgoing Chester County Sheriff Carolyn “Bunny” Welsh’s longtime live-in boyfriend, a K-9 Unit supervisor in the Sheriff’s Office, will be heard by a jury next year, according to an order signed last week.
Lancaster County Senior Judge Joseph Madenspacher, who was appointed by the state to hear the dispute between Welsh and county Controller Margaret Reif, on Wednesday ordered the two sides to be ready to go to trial on April 6, 2020, after exchanging discovery and filing pre-trial motions.
The trial over the controller’s demand that Welsh return more than $67,000 in overtime payments made to Lt. Harry McKinney is expected to last between one and two days.
Welsh’s attorney, William Gallagher of the law firm of MacElree Harvey, has already asked that the case be dismissed by the judge before trial. That motion is still outstanding.
In July, Reif filed a court “surcharge” against Welsh demanding that she repay $67,335.25 in “exorbitant overtime payments” made to McKinney over a threeyear period. The unusual filing, available under state law to collect inappropriate expenses by county elected officials, alleged that McKinney had routinely submitted overtime requests for hours he spent caring for the dogs he owns at home that were not permitted under county policy and practice.
The requests were normally for about 10 hours per week, but sometimes as high as 23 hours for one day, according to the controller’s filing.
The claim also alleged that McKinney had been assigned a workplace classification that would allow him to claim overtime, even though he held the rank of lieutenant, and as an office supervisor was not technically eligible for overtime payments.
Welsh has countered that the payments were completely proper and allowed under federal law for the care of K-9 officers. McKinney took advantage of a policy that was put in place that allowed the time he spent caring for the dogs under his control to be compensated by the county.
She also maintained that McKinney’s title of lieutenant was “honorary,” that he was never officially promoted that that rank, and that his classification of DS1, or Deputy Sheriff-1, is proper. McKinney and Welsh have been romantically involved for more than 20 years and own a home and a business together. He has worked in the office under her leadership since 2008.
According to the controller’s action, beginning in 2016, McKinney was paid several times more in overtime that he had been in previous years. He was paid $20,014 in overtime in 2016,
$27,368 in 2017, and $19,951 in
2018. In 2015, he was paid $3,722 in overtime, according to the filing. No other K-9 handler was paid regular overtime for the care of their dog, in accordance with a policy put in place in 2014 by former Chief Deputy Sheriff George March that determined such activity was a part of a deputy’s normal work day, the filing contends.
Welsh, the longest-serving elected official in the county government, announced last year that she would not seek a sixth term as county sheriff after drawing fire from some in the county for her robust support of President Donald Trump and other controversies.
Her successor, Sheriff-elect Democrat Fredda Maddox, has promised to thoroughly review all of the staffing situations in the office and make changes where necessary.
Reif, who was the first Democrat elected controller in the county’s history, in 2018 began an investigation into the way in which the Sheriff’s Office raised funds for a non-profit organization intended to support the K-9 Unit and the purposes for which those funds were spent.
When auditors in her office raised questions about the propriety of those expenses, Reif turned their report over to the county District Attorney’s Office, which in turn referred the matter to the state Attorney General’s Office. That agency’s review appears to be ongoing.