Potter County commissioners, sheriff clash over directive as jail inspected for noncompliance and overcrowding

Sheriff Thomas and members of the Potter County Commissioners Court confronted a sheriff'issued directive restricting employees'communication with commissioners and discussed an escalating jail overcrowding problem after the county's jail was rated "noncompliant" in a recent inspection.

The confrontation began when a commissioner asked Sheriff Thomas, "Was this directive either written or approved by you?" to which the sheriff replied, "Yes." The commissioner said the directive seemed to single out his office and asked whether it risked suppressing employee communications; county legal counsel told the court the directive is enforceable but "does potentially create First Amendment risk."

Why it matters: The court learned the jail inspector has placed the facility on the state's radar for noncompliance, triggering a requirement that the county explain corrective measures within 30 days. Court members flagged legal and operational risks of the directive, and discussed immediate steps to respond to jail capacity issues, including broader use of out'of'county beds and further review with state jail officials.

County officials repeatedly framed the dispute as both interpersonal and procedural. Judge Tanner and several commissioners urged professional, transparent channels for resolving disagreements; Commissioners Coble and Coffey emphasized that commissioners receive information from county employees and that restricting those channels could hamper identifying safety or legal risks.

Sheriff Thomas defended the memo as an internal "policy directive" meant to route inquiries through his command staff. "That is a policy that just says that if you wanna call, you can talk to one of the four people," he said, adding that the directive was intended to protect chain'of'command and operations.