Sheriff tells employees to fill out questionnaire or risk firing

CLEVELAND COUNTY, Okla. (KFOR) — The Cleveland County Sheriff's Office is asking its employees to weigh-in on what they think is best for the agency moving forward. Cleveland County Sheriff Chris Amason said he created the survey after employees said they wanted to give their input.

However, the email it came in said those who don't fill it out by the deadline will be fired.

The email was sent Sunday morning after Sheriff Amason learned the budget for the next fiscal year is lower than expected.

"Last Friday, the Cleveland County Budget Board approved $19.750 million for the sheriff in available funding for him in his budget," said Rod Cleveland, Cleveland County Commissioner.

Parts of the email from Sheriff Amason also said "we must work within it and prioritize" and "we need to maximize our resources."

That's where the questionnaire comes into play.

"This is something they've been asking for. They wanted to have input and direction, and this is what I'm giving them," said Sheriff Amason.

He said employees have been asking how they can share input and direction at the agency.

It includes questions about the employee's specific role and if they believe another position would be better.

Questions like "are there other positions you feel you would be qualified for" and "briefly explain your short-term and long-term goals as they relate to CCSO."

Sheriff Amason said he's hopeful for the responses and to learn how to improve the quality of work at the agency.

The second part of the email said the questionnaire must be submitted by Wednesday evening or the employee will be fired.

"We work in a paramilitary organization. Sometimes directives have to be direct to get people to respond," said Sheriff Amason.

The sheriff added that while the email includes a "direct order," it's nothing new and said they've had other emails with similar wording in the past at the agency.

"Yes, there had there have been mandatory mandatory requirements in emails. One of them involved the an incident that involved some mental health stuff that I can't talk about in public. But yeah, absolutely. There are times where I require my employees to respond back to me," said Sheriff Amason.

The other question is, will the sheriff have to make cuts in the agency as the budget is lower than expected for the next year?

"We are working to work within the bounds that we have and to provide the best services, but I would never want to have to cut services and we're doing our best to not have to do that," said Sheriff Amason.

County Commissioner Cleveland said there could be more funding for the sheriff's office as grant money comes in.