Road supervisor suspended

By SUSAN WHEELDON, Staff Writer
Commonwealth Journal

Somerset September 11, 2007 06:30 pm

— Steven Johnson, the county’s road supervisor, was suspended by the Pulaski Fiscal Court yesterday amidst allegations that he misused inmates involved in the detention center work release program.
Magistrates suspended Johnson with pay pending an investigation into allegations that two inmates worked at Johnson’s residence early last week, according to a source close to county government.
The suspension was handed down after magistrates retreated into executive session two different times to discuss personnel, totaling an hour and 15 minutes behind the closed door. The sessions were split by an hour-long break that allowed Pulaski County Attorney Bill Thompson to research the matter.
Mike Strunk, 4th District magistrate, made the motion to suspend Johnson, while Glenn Maxey, 5th District magistrate, seconded the motion.
On Friday, Johnson told a Commonwealth Journal reporter that he did not take inmates to his property last week. Calls to Johnson yesterday were not returned by press deadline.
“(The county road department) does have inmates who help on most days with county road department work,” Johnson said on Friday. “They’ve been building some new offices, and the inmates have been working on that, as well as some other projects.”
Johnson said he and two prisoners from the detention center went within a couple of miles of his home on Labor Day to remove some grass and tree limbs out of the roadway.
“We cleaned the debris out of the road,” said Johnson. “It was hazardous.”
On Friday, Pulaski County Judge-executive Barty Bullock said Johnson was one of several county employees authorized to take inmates from the jail and supervise them without an escort from detention center personnel.
Neither Thompson nor Bullock could provide a time frame for the investigation.
“It seems improper to take action until (the situation is) investigated thoroughly,” said Thompson.