The sheriff of York County is suing the county's commissioners, saying they illegally paid him about $15,000 less than promised.
Sheriff William King Jr. said in his suit that when he served as chief deputy sheriff, he made $78,000, but when he was elected sheriff, county commissioners didn't raise his pay to the about-$90,000 that the previous sheriff had made. That's the amount that was budgeted for the position.
King said he was not told he'd be getting the lower salary.
"In this case, they refused to pay the budgeted amount, and instead offered the sheriff and paid him approximately $15,000 less than what they had declared in their budget," says King's attorney Mark Dion, who in his capacity as a state representative says he wrote the state law at issue here. Dion says that law prohibits county commissioners from doing what they did.
"State law requires that county commissioners declare a sheriff's salary before the election, so candidates can rely on what that pay scale will look like, should they win election to the post," he says.
York County attorney Gene Libby says the commissioners believe they were well within their rights.
"The county commissioners will be responding to the complaint and believe they have the authority to set the sheriff's salary as they did," he says.