Here’s his website.

Use this thread to discuss Rex Coffey and his current administration.

In my humble opinion his administration, is nothing more than a bunch of his old cronies he worked with when he was a CCSO Deputy, I always wondered how someone who retired as a corporal could come back as a Sheriff (Elected), and be in charge of other CCSO Officers who use to be his supervisors, guess that’s why we lost a bunch of great officers since/when he was elected.

This is why the County needs to appoint the Sheriff, or better yet drop the whole Sheriff concept, and go to a County Police force structure like 99.9% of the counties do.

Very humble that “opinion” of yours Viper.  Try and get your facts straight before you offer this humbleness though.. Gibson left as an Acting Sargeant - the highest rank that you can achieve without being considered a political cronie.  Before you go calling for a Police Force….. ever thought about how much that would cost the tax payers?  Never heard the idea until the previous administration lost the election and started boo hooing - My humble opinion - The voters spoke - Live with it.

Manny - 27 May 2009 06:18 AM

Very humble that “opinion” of yours Viper.  Try and get your facts straight before you offer this humbleness though.. Gibson left as an Acting Sargeant - the highest rank that you can achieve without being considered a political cronie.  Before you go calling for a Police Force….. ever thought about how much that would cost the tax payers?  Never heard the idea until the previous administration lost the election and started boo hooing - My humble opinion - The voters spoke - Live with it.

Hey Manny, who’s Gibson, and why bring him up whoever he is. The County Police force I’m talking about wouldn’t cost the tax payer a dime, the so called “Structure” is already there, all that would happen as you’ve stated above, is no one would be appointed to positions above Sergeant, you would have to take an exam and prove your intelligence, not be appointed by the good ol boy system that is in place now, and the Sheriff would become the Chief of Police and would be appointed by vetted applicants and not elected.

Hey Manny, who’s Gibson, and why bring him up whoever he is. Really?

the so called “Structure” - The Office of the Sheriff cannot be abolished - it’s in the Constitution - The County would then have to fund two agencies

positions above Sergeant, you would have to take an exam and prove your intelligence Dave Williams was a Lt when he retired can’t tell me he passed an intelligence test

Boo Hooo

Viper, Manny beat me to the punch on this one.

All I was going to point out was that the Office of the Sheriff is a constitutional office and cannot be abolished, as Manny stated.

Every county that has a Police Department and Chief of Police also has a Sheriff’s Office and an elected Sheriff. The duties of policing and the constitutional judicial functions of the Sheriff are separated, but are often duplicated. In every one of those counties, the citizens are funding dual police agencies to provide the same level of service our county has with a single agency.

Those counties created a police department and separated the respective responsibilities so that politicians would have control over who has policing authority. The Chiefs of Police are then hired and fired by elected executive officials (in our case, it would be the Commissioners) and report to them. Elected Sheriffs report to the citizens who elect them—our Commissioners have NO control over how our Sheriff runs his agency. If the citizens don’t like the job he does, he’s the only one responsible.

Rex did not retire at the rank of corporal, he was a lieutenant. Dave Williams retired as a captain. Buddy resigned holding the rank of corporal. You’re only acting sergeant while active, not under suspension of police powers. The sheriff can bring in people from the outside into his administration. For whatever the reason the sheriff is responsible should these individuals prove to be a liability. So far, the sheriff is doing a good job, nothing spectacular,but he is out there.

Manny - 27 May 2009 03:21 PM

Hey Manny, who’s Gibson, and why bring him up whoever he is. Really?

the so called “Structure” - The Office of the Sheriff cannot be abolished - it’s in the Constitution - The County would then have to fund two agencies

positions above Sergeant, you would have to take an exam and prove your intelligence Dave Williams was a Lt when he retired can’t tell me he passed an intelligence test

Boo Hooo

The Maryland Constituttion states that each county and in the city of Baltimore, one (1) person will be elected to the office of Sheriff, we wouldn’t have two (2) seperate agencies, we would have one (1) “County Police Department”, with a Chief of police.

Part VII - Sheriffs.

SEC. 44. There shall be elected in each county and in Baltimore City one person, resident in said county or City, above the age of twentyfive years and for at least five years preceding his election a citizen of the State, to the office of Sheriff. He shall hold office for four years, until his successor is duly elected and qualified, give such bond, exercise such powers and perform such duties as now are or may hereafter be fixed by law.

In case of vacancy by death, resignation, refusal to serve, or neglect to qualify or give bond, or by disqualification or removal from theCounty or City, the Governor shall appoint a person to be Sheriff for the remainder of the official term.

The Sheriff in each county and in Baltimore City shall receive such salary or compensation and such expenses necessary to the conduct of his office as may be fixed by law. All fees collected by the Sheriff shall be accounted for and paid to the Treasury of the several counties and of Baltimore City, respectively (amended by Chapter 845, Acts of 1914, ratified Nov. 3, 1914; Chapter 786, Acts of 1945, ratified Nov. 5, 1946; Chapter 55, Acts of 1953, ratified Nov. 2, 1954; Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978).

A “Chief of Police” & a “Sheriff” are two completely different positions and are not interchangeable words, although their positions do seem patently equatable from the outside.

A “Sheriff” is the constitutionally required office, that must be elected, and has responsibility for all judiciary law enforcement functions. For counties that do not have a separate police force, that county’s Sheriff and Sheriff office take on the duties of policing on top of their judicial roles. 

In every county that has a “Police Department” and a “Chief of Police,” that county has a separate “Sheriff’s Office” and elected “Sheriff” per the Maryland constitution.

A county doesn’t have to have both, but if they only have one, it HAS TO BE a Sheriff’s Office with an elected Sheriff.

Unless you can have our legislature change the Maryland Constitution.

The Quack - 27 May 2009 08:29 PM

A “Chief of Police” & a “Sheriff” are two completely different positions and are not interchangeable words, although their positions do seem patently equatable from the outside.

A “Sheriff” is the constitutionally required office, that must be elected, and has responsibility for all judiciary law enforcement functions. For counties that do not have a separate police force, that county’s Sheriff and Sheriff office take on the duties of policing on top of their judicial roles. 

In every county that has a “Police Department” and a “Chief of Police,” that county has a separate “Sheriff’s Office” and elected “Sheriff” per the Maryland constitution.

A county doesn’t have to have both, but if they only have one, it HAS TO BE a Sheriff’s Office with an elected Sheriff.

Unless you can have our legislature change the Maryland Constitution.

Then have the elected “Sheriff”, be in charge of “Courthouse Security”, and the “CC Detention Center”, there is already organizational structure at these facilities, then the new “CC Chief of Police” can/will be in charge of all the existing deputies, and they will be made “CC Police Officer’s”.

Viper - 28 May 2009 07:44 PM

Then have the elected “Sheriff”, be in charge of “Courthouse Security”, and the “CC Detention Center”, there is already organizational structure at these facilities, then the new “CC Chief of Police” can/will be in charge of all the existing deputies, and they will be made “CC Police Officer’s”.

Yes, the organizational structure at those facilities are run by and report to the Sheriff already.

You previously said that you didn’t want to “create” a new police force, that the structure was already there for it. It’s not.

The Sheriff’s Office would still have to maintain the same bureaucratic system (Headquarters, Command Staff, Training Units, Property Management Units, attorney’s, etc…) and that “system” would be duplicated—just as every other County does—Sure SOME of the officers who are currently Sheriff’s officers COULD become ‘Police Officers’ for the newly created ‘Police Department.’ But why? They’re already doing that job now. Why change uniforms, badges, cars, paperwork, MD Court information and forms AND have the added expense of another bureaucratic system.

Calvert County looked at doing this same thing a couple years ago. The one time additional cost was several million dollars, and the yearly additional cost was just over a couple million to operate a “Sheriff’s Office” and a “Police Department.” They quickly scrapped the idea.

The Sheriff’s Office would still have to maintain the same bureaucratic system (Headquarters, Command Staff, Training Units, Property Management Units, attorney’s, etc…) and that “system” would be duplicated—just as every other County does—Sure SOME of the officers who are currently Sheriff’s officers COULD become ‘Police Officers’ for the newly created ‘Police Department.’ But why? They’re already doing that job now. Why change uniforms, badges, cars, paperwork, MD Court information and forms AND have the added expense of another bureaucratic system.

It can be done. The sheriff’s office would be downsized, all property under control of the sheriff would revert back to the county commissioners, buildings, vehicles, property,etc. The sheriff’s manpower would be restructured to allow him to fulfill his constitutional duties, ie court summons and warrant service, court security, the county could take over the detention center just like most other counties. This has already occurred in Allegheny County.

And it would all cost lots of money - point made -

On the contrary Manny, it wouldn’t.

Well I believe this is a dead horse, because like most things in Charles County it’s status quo, don’t rock the boat, don’t try to change anything for the better, don’t be proactive just continue to be reactive.

But again in my “Humble Opinion” anything would be better than the LEO system we have now, with all the good ol boy cronyisms going on now, and in the past, and also I believe anybody in the “Office of High Sheriff” would be better than what we have now, and I mean anybody.

Who are you kidding?  No politicial patronage from the previous administration - You are way off point -  And by the way - the voters of Charles County disagree with you

No politicial patronage from the previous administration - You are way off point

Manny, where’s the proof? You speak of political patronage on the part of the previous administration, but you offer nothing to support your claim.

Manny - 29 May 2009 02:26 PM

Who are you kidding?  No politicial patronage from the previous administration - You are way off point -  And by the way - the voters of Charles County disagree with you

Well Manny I’m not going to argue about the PP, because I believe your wrong, and in reference to your VOTER’s statement, we’ll have to see if your right after the next election cycle.

Viper-

You suggested “99% of the counties have a county police force.”

Actually only 6 counties out of the 23 counties in Maryland have county police departments. These are PG, Anne Arundel, Howard, Allegany, Baltimore, and Montgomery counties. By my calculation, that means 26% of the counties have police departments.

Also, I assume you do understand that the county commissioners would be responsible for selecting a police chief if we transition to that type of law enforcement system. While I agree with you that the sheriff’s election campaigns can get way out of hand, and sometimes the voters select a candidate we might not like, at least the choice is in the hands of the voters——US!

Can you imagine how political and ugly things could get if the five idiot commissioners were responsible for selecting a police chief? We would be stuck with the law enforcement equivelent of a jackass like Paul Comfort.

A better idea would be to regulate how many outsiders the sheriff would be allowed to bring in once he is elected. It seems much of the controversy about Mr Coffey surrounds his political appointments. If he were regulated by county ordinance and were only allowed to bring in his immediate assistant sheriffs (these positions are held by Joe Montminy and Buddy Gibson) it seems like much of the controversy would cease.

Cowgirl - Very good point on the statistics - However I respectfully disagree with your assessment that the elected position of Sheriff should somehow be regulated, by whom?  The Sheriff needs to have an adminsitrative staff that is competent and trustworthy.  Rex Coffey chose Buddy Gibson because he had a successful and thriving business which enabled him to bring that experience to the Office of the Sheriff.  Gibson is a FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE great cop with real life experience.  The mud slinging that is taking place at his expense is the result of a group of men that are no longer employed by the Office of the Sheriff and are simply jealous.  If these men truly cared about the Office of the Sheriff they would not be slinging mud they would have mature, constructive arguments about policy not personal attacks. 
FACT:  Gibson retired as an Acting Sargeant in good standing - Dave Williams knows this because he was in charge of the department that leveled those charges.  The public should be very wary of a former cop that is willing to disclose information that was obtained through a supervisory position to further his own agenda -  Especially when HE LIES

Manny, It’s quite disturbing that you are spouting off about things you haven’t a clue about. Understand this, Buddy was a corporal and he resigned as such. Now if you can refute this with factual documentation, enough of the bull. A disgraced cop is a disgraced cop no matter how you try to spin it and it taints the CCSO. One more thing, how do you leave in good standing when you were the subject of an investigation, compromised a police investigation, lie about it, and found guilty by a police trial board. This is very disturbing and to think that this is the best that Rex can come up with, very disturbing. Oh, and Capt. Williams was not part of the group that retired upon Rex winning the election. You won’t be able to perpetuate that crap this time out.

Starscream - 31 May 2009 10:24 AM

A disgraced cop is a disgraced cop no matter how you try to spin it and it taints the CCSO. One more thing, how do you leave in good standing when you were the subject of an investigation, compromised a police investigation, lie about it, and found guilty by a police trial board.

Are you talking about Sam Graves?

Joseph “Buddy” Gibson

You sure? Sounds like the statement could apply.

Positive. Graves bailed before it got to the trial board stage.

That was that last incident. The incident before then, the charges were “administratively sustained.”