Coweta County

Sheriff Mike Yeager is concerned about his employees.

The sheriff

is so concerned he wants county officials to reexamine the county's pension

plan and see if it needs to be adjusted for public safety officials.

Yeager said

he has talked with officials from the county's fire and emergency services

divisions who are also troubled by the county's pension plan.

Yeager's main

problem is that officers are having to work until they are in their 60s

before they can obtain a "living wage" from their pension.

The sheriff

is concerned that this could cause a public safety issue because officers

in their 60s would be in the front line of the battle against crime.

He also dismisses

the idea that officers should be shifted to the jail, since numerous fights

break out in the compound and you could have older officers trying to

break up battles between much younger prisoners.

County Commission

Chairman Vernon "Mutt" Hunter dismissed the sheriff's opinion

about the pension plan.

"This

is one of the best plans around. We can't help it if somebody didn't sign

up for it 20 years ago and is now worried about that money," he said.

Yeager said

the plan needed to be explained better to his officers, because many are

pulling money out of the county plan and trying to invest on their own.

In addition

to a regular pension plan, Hunter said the officers have the option of

deferred compensation through Coweta County and another program available

through the Georgia Peace Officers program.

The sheriff

finally asked if the county would compare its program with other programs

around the state and see how it compares. He asked that descriptions in

"layman's terms" be provided to the officers so they would have

a better understanding of the program.

Hunter agreed

and asked personnel director Rick Watson to start working on the project.