New sheriff, one week in office
Getting his feet wet...and then some
By Debbie Lowe

Living up to his promise Sheriff Tony Burns takes a telephone call and handles a little business during an interview at the end of his first week on the job. Comet photo by Debbie Lowe

Carroll County's new sheriff has a big job to do. He inherited a jail facility that, by all accounts, needs thousands of dollars in repairs, if not totally replaced.

He came into the job knowing the community and many of its leaders were disgruntled with the manner in which detainee meals were handled in the past. He has to work with a new county prosecutor. He has to answer to county commissioners and council members who he has not appeared in front of in an official capacity before. And those are just some of the major issues facing firsttime sheriff Tony Burns.

"I've not been able to sleep well some nights," Burns said. "I was up the other morning at 4 a.m. sending out some emails. I figured, if I can't sleep, I may as well get some work done!"

Burns welcomed the chance to talk about what he is doing, what he hopes to do and describe some of those things he has to wait on others to do.

"The jail facility belongs to the commissioners," he said. "They have to drive what is going to happen to the building and what we use it for."

Burns described himself as a perfectionist. He said his biggest challenge since taking office was to learn the art of delegation.

"I appointed Tobe Leazenby as chief deputy and gave him the rank of major," Burns explained. "Tobe has been an incredible help this last week. He has come along and asked me to let him do things, which has helped me learn to let him do things."

Leazenby will also serve as the chief public information officer. In addition, Burns named Deputy Mark Back acting sergeant and made him supervisor of night shift patrol.

"We needed someone who was actually in charge at night," Burns said.

Burns promoted Deputy Steve Mullin to full-time criminal investigator.

"I am excited about having Steve as our investigator," Burns said. "He's got a talent for talking with people that will mean a lot for us to be able to be consistent with all criminal cases."

The sheriff explained an investigator was needed to follow up on criminal cases that road troops started, but at times became distracted from during the investigation due to their other duties of handling crashes and responding in emergency situations.

Another issue facing Burns is the lack of a formal promotion process for the department. He said he plans to develop a protocol for promotions that is fair to everyone. He said it was unneeded in earlier years because there were fewer deputies and positions. However, the community has changed and the department needs to change with it.

All protocols must be approved by the police merit board. However, before that project can reach fruition, Burns must appoint merit board members for 2007. Burns explained the merit board is responsible to hire, fire and promote merit officers. All deputies are merit officers, however jail employees are not.

Burns said the issues surrounding jail meals are reaching a point of resolution. He chose OSM out of Indianapolis to assist with meal planning and ensure compliance with state standards. OSM works with the food distributor U.S. Foods. U.S. Foods delivers appropriate food quantities to other local businesses and organizations, such as Carroll Manor and Dairy Queen.

OSM provides a six-week portion-controlled menu that allows for substitutions. A territory manager visits delivery sites to consult with cooks and supervisors for service satisfaction and to answer billing questions.

"I've worked on the jail meals issue for months," Burns said. "After six weeks of the menus, we will sit down and evaluate the results and what needs to be changed. The jail cooks will be a part of that evaluation. They are the ones who work with it every day."

Burns said until he receives direction from the commissioners about what they want him to do with the jail facility, he will "focus on taking care of minor things."

"I want to fix up the building," he said. "I am going to make some repairs. I am more than willing to start doing other things like replacing furnaces, if that's the direction the commissioners give me. I just need direction from them to know what to do. It is their building."

Burns said communication is the best tool with which he has to work. He plans to attend commissioners' and council meetings to explain what is happening at the jail and to answer questions.

Burns, along with the help of Mullin and Leazenby, installed a records-management computer system, which will eventually conjoin the sheriff's department with the Flora and Delphi City systems. The synergistic measure will enable the departments to build and share a good database.

"The system will give us a master name index which will allow us to recognize possible criminal trends," he explained. "It will really in effect keep the public safer and promote a better professional working atmosphere."

Burns would also like to find ways to reduce the day-to-day jail populations.

"I can't control the courts and bonding issues," he said. "But if people who are incarcerated can move through the system quicker, it will cost us less in many different areas."

Burns said making the bonding process more efficient is a goal. Being able to post bonds quicker by abolishing bonding hours is one way to achieve the goal. Another avenue Burns is exploring is allowing the use of credit and debit cards to pay for bonds set by the courts.

Burns said changes will not always be quick. He intends to examine each issue fully before acting. He does not want any changes to adversely affect victims or the courts.

Additionally, he will ride with patrol officers and visit with staff some nights.

Although he will be very busy with formal duties assigned to his as sheriff, Burns said he will continue to be accessible to the public. He said he will visit with detainees weekly and if one of them asks to speak directly to the sheriff, he will talk with them.

In addition, he and newlyelected prosecutor Trish Thompson want to host open-forum public meetings throughout the community.

"I will be accessible to the public," Burns emphasized.

Burns will have regular daytime office hours, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Burns finished with, "If I am going to be a one-term sheriff, I want to be able to say at the end of that term that I did my best each and every year."