KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Following up tonight the deadline for Klamath County Sheriff Chris Kaber and his two sons who work in the sheriff’s office to either resign or quit has passed.
The sheriff says the county emailed his sons late yesterday afternoon, saying their employment status with the county is not changing. This is all due to alleged nepotism in the sheriff’s office, which goes against county policy.
Sheriff Chris Kaber is currently under investigation by the Oregon Government Ethics Commission for potential nepotism.
Back in June, Klamath County Commissioner Derrick DeGroot filed a state ethics complaint against Sheriff Kaber for appointing his son who also works at the sheriff’s office to oversee the detective’s division. Sheriff Kaber says the division was “deteriorating when there was no supervisor.”
The county says only Sheriff Kabers’ Captain, who is second-in-command, can make any personnel decisions about one of the sheriff sons and he can’t be influenced by the sheriff.
The county was also concerned that the position the sheriff appointed his son to wasn’t offered to other current sergeants.
Sheriff Kaber argues his son never ended up switching positions, so the violation never came to fruition. But the move prompted county commissioners to ask the Oregon Government Ethics Commission to look into the matter.
The Kabers were then all issued letters from the County Human Resources Department that notified them that their benefits would expire on December 27th if they didn’t make changes. The sheriff told us all along and just last week in an on camera interview, that his family wasn’t going to voluntarily leave the agency.
Sheriff Chris Kaber said, “Either resign or they’re being asked to resign. Well, I’m telling you, they’re not resigning. So it’s not really a resignation. It’s a forced termination of their employment. The Board of Commissioners and the Human Resources Department here believe that they have some authority over my office and my deputies that I do not believe they have.”
Sheriff Kaber wrote “the office of the sheriff is not a department of the county.” He believes that is “an important distinction worth defending, for reasons related to the constitutional protections to the public provided by an elected sheriff.”
A county report released just this afternoon says there have been numerous whistleblower complaints from multiple sources.
It says the Board of County Commissioners on behalf of Klamath County is obligated to perform independent and objective investigations.
The Oregon Government Ethics Commission is expected to make its decision on the case by next February.
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