Morris County Sheriff: 'I do not want to give up the jail'

A takeover of the Morris County Jail by the county freeholders was called "an outrage" Thursday by the spokeswoman for Sheriff Edward V. Rochford, whose management of overtime at the 550-bed facility was cited as one of multiple reasons behind the board's dramatic decision.

Six freeholders at their regular meeting Wednesday night voted in favor of the takeover, but Deputy Freeholder Director John Cesaro abstained, saying he wanted to give Rochford the chance to argue in favor of keeping the bureau of corrections within his office.

"I do not want to give up the jail, and I support the administration at the jail," Rochford said Thursday. He said he plans to meet in the next few days with jail Undersheriff Joseph Pascale and Warden Chris Klein and decide how to proceed.

Rochford said he is most disturbed by the way the takeover occurred.

"This was done so secretly, and it wasn't listed on the freeholder agenda," he said.

Sheriff's Office Chief-of-Staff Susan Hunter called the decision "an outrage," saying that the jail in Morris Township repeatedly has been accredited and that well-trained officers have successfully stopped at least three inmates from committing suicide in recent years.

"We're still digesting the news, but it came as a total shock," said Hunter. "There was no public debate, no advance notice to the sheriff. Six people who don't collectively have the number of votes the sheriff received in the last election decided this."

But several freeholders and county Administrator John Bonanni said the takeover was the result of a long-festering relationship with Rochford over multiple financial issues, including his decision to negotiate four new contracts with officers and civilian staff without involving the county's labor counsel, administrator or freeholders.

"It was a difficult decision in my mind, but I think we can control the overtime costs and the contracts the sheriff is trying to negotiate," said Freeholder Douglas Cabana.

Freeholder David Scapicchio added, "Based on all the recent behavior by the sheriff, it's my personal belief he no longer has the capacity to manage the jail in a responsible way."

The sheriff is a constitutionally mandated position in New Jersey, with the primary responsibility of providing security at the Morris County Courthouse. Rochford, 71, was first elected sheriff in 1992 after he defeated longtime Sheriff John Fox in the 1992 Republican primary. He easily won eight successive, three-year terms as sheriff.

Rochford's office has two bureaus: corrections and law enforcement. Officers in the law enforcement bureau oversee courthouse security and are assigned to nonmandated services that include a crime scene unit, a K-9 unit and bomb squad. The bureau is not affected by the jail takeover.

Traditionally, the sheriff in Morris County has run the jail, but the sheriff and county freeholders are co-employers of the workers. The co-employment aspect permitted the freeholders to vote to transfer "complete and sole oversight" of the facility to themselves by Sept. 1.

Out of 20 county jails in New Jersey, freeholder boards run 11 of them.

Bonanni said that no layoffs will occur,, but a warden will have to be named, and the jail likely will become a division under the county Department of Law and Public Safety. The jail currently is budgeted for 165 sworn officers, but Rochford said there are about 20 vacancies, and he just hired 16 recruits to begin corrections officer training.

The freeholders also voted Wednesday night to reject four contracts the sheriff negotiated on his own since April with Policemen's Benevolent Association Local 151, the union representing bureau of law enforcement officers; PBA Local 298, the union for corrections officers; a jail superior officers union; and jail civilian employees union.

Several freeholders said overtime at the county jail was growing out of control, particularly at a time when the daily inmate population was decreasing.

Bonanni said, overall, the sheriff has not demonstrated a willingness to sit down with freeholders and discuss numbers. Rochford, instead, has dropped off contracts he says he negotiated.

"I have a tremendous amount of respect for the facility and for the culture the sheriff has developed at the jail. However, when you have a co-employer situation, it only functions if there's a willingness to share information. When that willingness subsides, it ceases to be a cooperative relationship," Bonanni said.

The increases in overtime are just one concern of the freeholders. In 2008, $864,251 in overtime was paid out. The average daily inmate count was 328.

In 2014, $1,878,439 in overtime was paid. The average daily inmate count was 299. For the first six months of this year, $918,654 in overtime has been paid, and the average daily inmate count was 255.

Meanwhile, the number of sworn staff members at the jail has remained relatively constant — fluctuating between 159 and 165 between 2008 and this year, according to figures provided by the county.

Hunter, the sheriff's chief of staff, contends that the overtime is a result of young officers leaving the jail within two years of being hired — because the salaries are "noncompetitive" — and senior officers having to fill manpower gaps. However, the county conducted a survey and found that Morris County has the highest starting salary in the state — $44,162 — for corrections officers.

Bonanni and other freeholders also noted that officers leave the jail and Sheriff's Office for jobs in municipal police departments, which are not strictly comparable in skills or training to the Sheriff's Office jobs they leave.

The four rejected contracts that Rochford proposed sought the following:

A 24.95 percent increase in salary and benefit costs for PBA 151 over a three-year period.

A 23.56 percent increase in salary and benefit costs for PBA 298 corrections officers over three years.

A 21.33 percent increase in salary and benefit costs for PBA 298 corrections officers superiors over a four-year period.

A 29.36 percent increase in salaries and benefit costs for civilian jail workers over four years.

Rochford, who has said he expects to seek a ninth term, is likely to face a serious challenge in the 2016 GOP primary. A potential contender is James M. Gannon, who retired from the Morris County Prosecutor's Office as deputy chief of investigations and now works as director of risk and extremism investigations for Novartis Pharmaceutical in East Hanover.

Gannon, who has said he is considering a run for the job, made a significant mark in Morris County law enforcement by his command of investigations into the double murder at FuncoLand in Roxbury and the slaying of a 10-year-old child in Morristown.

The resolution passed by the freeholders states "it is in the best interests of Morris County to have the Morris County Freeholder Board assume complete and sole oversight of the corrections facility."

The freeholders had invited Rochford to an executive session of the board meeting Wednesday, but he declined, sending Hunter, his chief-of-staff, and attorney John McCann. Hunter said the sheriff had a prior engagement in Atlantic City, and the freeholders refused to select an alternate day to speak with him.

Staff Writer Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@GannettNJ.com.