Local News

Judge Raises Concerns Over Weekend Work Program

BRAD DICKERSON
Published: October 8, 2008

SEBRING - Highlands County Court Judge Anthony Ritenour will not allow inmates to serve jail time on the weekend work release program until changes are implemented.

Defendants who have already been sentenced, however, will continue to have access to the program.

"The integrity of the weekend work release program has been severely compromised," Ritenour stated in an Oct. 1 letter to the Highlands County Sheriff's Office.

Sheriff's Detention Maj. David Paeplow said Ritenour's concerns stemmed from procedures not being followed by Levon Stukes, one of the detention deputies.

Stukes was suspended without pay on Sept. 17 and 18 and was reassigned to a security squad working inside the jail.

Program participants pay a $5 fee when they show up for a work assignment and are required to sign a sign-in sheet for each day of work.

Stukes was accepting a lump-sum payment in a money order for several days of work and was not getting the sheets signed.

"Those procedures were not being followed as they are set up to be in the program," Paeplow said. "This officer was not enforcing those rules, so to speak, the way that was acceptable to us. We feel confident that we've already corrected the situation."

A meeting between the sheriff, the clerk's office and the judge is scheduled for Friday in the jury assembly room, according to a memo from Ritenour.

"The Sheriff (Susan Benton) and I had a productive conversation on Wednesday, Oct. 1, and I have been advised that the sheriff's office is making strides to correct the issues at hand," Ritenour stated in the memo.

Paeplow believes the judge will "react positively" to the efforts made by the department to remedy the problem within the work release program.

"Something came to our attention, we addressed it, removed that problem and put measures in place to ensure that it doesn't happen again," Paeplow said.

Brad Dickerson can be reached at 863-386-5838.