SUNBURY - Northumberland County Prison Warden Roy Johnson confirmed Thursday morning that Brian Wheary will be retained as an operations commander, while former operations commander Dennis Hendricks has agreed to be demoted to lieutenant at a reduced salary.
Both officers were suspended earlier this week due to cost-cutting measures and to reduce management level positions at the prison. They had faced the possibility of being laid off before the prison board unanimously agreed Wednesday to allow Johnson to call back one of the operations commanders, while asking the other
commander to accept a voluntary demotion to lieutenant.
The prison board also voted Wednesday to lay off a lieutenant and two sergeants, a move that will save the county approximately $135,000 in salaries and benefits. The lieutenant and two sergeants have not yet been identified. The warden said he planned to decide by today which lieutenant and sergeants will be laid off.
The salaries and benefits of the two sergeants being considered for the cuts are $48,415 and $37,809. The salaries and benefits of two of the lieutenants (only one will be cut) are $50,945 and $40,078.
Johnson told prison board members he can operate the prison safely and efficiently without a second operations commander, a lieutenant and two sergeants.
The 37-year-old Wheary of Shamokin has worked at the prison since Dec. 20, 2004. His salary is $36,030. He was named operations commander/intelligence officer I on March 1, 2010. The 41-year-old Hendricks of Coal Township began working at the prison Sept. 19, 1988. He currently earns a salary of $40,575, but that will be decreased with his voluntary demotion to lieutenant. He was promoted to operations commander/intelligence officer II on Oct. 20, 2009.
On Thursday morning, Wheary clarified a statement he made to The News-Item regarding the possibility of taking legal action against the county if he wasn't retained at the prison. Wheary, who talked to the media during a 90-minute executive session held by prison board members before they voted on the layoffs, said his intention of being at Wednesday's prison board meeting was to see if he still had a job. Although he admitted that seeking legal action was always an option, he claimed that it wasn't his intention to sue the county if he was laid off.