By John Howell

Panola County Board of Supervisors President Kelly Morris on  Wednesday explained his vote to break the tie to settle a lawsuit brought by a former deputy sheriff for unpaid overtime and wrongful termination.

Morris said it was “one of the hardest votes I ever made.
“Do we get out while we can, or do we keep going?” Morris asked, rhetorically. “The court could have bankrupted us,” he said, “if the case had gone to trial.”

Morris spoke during the weekly meeting of the Batesville Exchange Club where in a series of meetings, county office holders have been invited to describe their job duties.

Crucial to the decision to settle, Morris said, was a missing computer hard drive that former Sheriff Otis Griffin is alleged to have taken with him when he left office. The hard drive contained extensive sheriff’s department records, including time records.

“That’s the reason we’re going to try to go back on his bond,” Morris said. “We’re going to try to recoup some of our money.”

The settlement resolved both a wrongful termination lawsuit and a wage and hour lawsuit that former Deputy Sheriff Earl Burdette filed in U. S. District Court in November, 2013 seeking $1.2 million in damages.

The week prior supervisors had voted 3-2 to settle the lawsuit that attorney Bill McKenzie said involved record keeping going back from 2012 through 2001 when the late David M. Bryan was sheriff.

Burdette was terminated by current Sheriff Dennis Darby who took office in 2012.

McKenzie also explained to supervisors that some county records, “weren’t completed and weren’t produced,” when asked if the missing hard drive would have contained missing records.
“Some of it could have—just some bad things happened in this case that were not good for Panola County as an employer,” McKenzie told supervisors.

Panola County settled the lawsuit for $440,000 using $250,000 from county funds and $190,000 from its insurance carrier, Morris said. The insurance carrier will also pay for the county’s legal defense and mediation expenses.

Morris said that lawsuits from other sheriff’s department employees during the same time period would be prevented by a statute of limitations that has now expired.