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Butler County Deputies Go on Strike

After Butler County Sheriff Scottie Ward's budget was tabled until December 28 by the county's fiscal court Monday night, Ward said all his deputies will be on strike until a budget is approved. In a Facebook posting after the meeting, Ward wrote, "I'm truly sorry but I can't force my guys to put their life on the line for no money."

Ward said he gave each court member a copy of his budget to look over November 10th. But after an hour of questioning, a motion was made by court member David Whittinghill to table the document. Sheriff Ward called the meeting "a circus".

The sheriff's office will remain open to collect taxes and for court security.

Ward said he cut his budget five thousand dollars from last year and, still, no one in his department got a raise while all other Butler County employees got a 2% raise.

The sheriff, in a separate posting, also listed the home phone numbers for all fiscal court members and urged residents to call them to support the sheriff's department.

The award-winning news team at WKU Public Radio consists of Dan Modlin, Kevin Willis, Lisa Autry, and Joe Corcoran.