"I wish Randall had called

somebody. This is just ridiculous."

That's the assessment of Fayette

County Commissioner Herb Frady over the public squabble between the Sheriff's

Department, led by Sheriff Randall Johnson, and the Marshal's Office,

which falls under the county's control.

Letters have flown back and

forth between the Johnson and the County Commission, with both sides using

strong language to make their points.

The latest letter from the

county now refers to the marshals as the county's police department. When

asked if he agreed with the assessments in the letter, Frady is quite

clear.

"There's no argument.

That's just a fact," Frady said.

In July, 1983, the County Commission

led by Chairman Jerry Barronton, vice-chairman Mike Reid, Dennis Berkelbaugh,

Steve Black and Tom Harris created the position of county marshal.

The original responsibilities

were to enforce zoning ordinances, environmental ordinances, business

licenses and other county ordinances.

According to the ordinance

creating the position, the future marshal would need a good understanding

of county ordinances, a knowledge of county roads and be a certified law

enforcement officer.

Frady said Commissioner A.G.

VanLandingham had gotten wind that something was occurring between the

two departments and headed to Johnson's office to discuss it.

"When he was talking to

Randall, (Lt. Col.) Bruce Jordan handed the sheriff a letter. Randall

signed it and handed it to Van," Frady said.

Frady is not quite sure how

this controversy started.

"I don't know why Bruce

Jordan is involved. I thought he was an investigator. I didn't know they

needed him to do administrative work."

In 1989, the County Commission

led by Chairman George Patton further strengthened the marshal's office

including the power of arrest.

"The County Marshal shall

have the power to make arrests and to execute and return criminal warrants

and processes in Fayette County, and all the powers of the Sheriff as

peace officers in Fayette County," read the resolution.

Riverdale City Administrator

Billy Beckett was Fayette County's chief administrator in 1989. Beckett

started working for the county in 1985 and left in 2000.

Beckett recalls the resolution

and makes clear its intentions.

"It was never my intent

to create a de-facto police department. The resolution was merely meant

to give the marshals the authorization they needed to do their jobs,"

he said.

Beckett said the primary functions

of the marshal's office was to enforce county ordinances, investigate

accidents involving county equipment and property, and also to function

as a game warden capacity.

While Beckett was not around

when the office was created, he does remembering authorizing marshals

to carry firearms as a part of their job.

Commissioner Frady hopes the

fight is not over the re-patching of the uniforms.

"We just consolidated

out departments into six divisions. The patch says public safety, and

I guess somebody got upset over that," he said.

He hopes the Sheriff's Department

is not serious about threatening not to accept any prisoners the marshals

have arrested.

"We just don't need to

get to that point."

Commissioner A.G. VanLandingham

said he has reassured Johnson the county has no plan to take over any

functions of the sheriff's department.

"This was just done to

promote a sense of unity," he said.

VanLandingham said the marshal's

office is operating the same way it has for 20 years, and there is no

plan to add any more duties.

Commissioner Peter Pfeifer

said he's tried to find out how this whole situation started, and has

come up with nothing substantial.

"I heard that there was

dissension about the badges, but I just dismissed that," he said.

Pfeifer said he's talked to

past commissioners, who indicated they have always looked upon the marshals

as the county's police force.

He hopes Johnson is not serious

about turning away prisoners, and wants somebody to show him if the commissioners

have done something wrong.

"If we've done something

wrong, I'll try and fix it."

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