Somerset —

There’s good news and bad news — as far as some are concerned — in the continuing saga of the shake-up between the Lake Cumberland Area Drug Task Force and the City of Somerset. Last week, a group of concerned citizens — mainly comprised of Somerset city councilors — issued a restraining order preventing Mayor Eddie Girdler from taking any additional steps in damaging the drug task force. The order requires Girdler to refrain from “interfering with or changing the present operations or administration of the Lake Cumberland Area Drug Task Force.” The courts ruled that Girdler should not take any actions which would remove the City of Somerset as the granting authority for LCADTF funds; that he should not take any actions which would interfere with the arrest powers of LCADTF agents; that he should not interfere with the operation of the LCADTF; and that he should not remove four LCADTF agents as employees of the City of Somerset. Problems began in June, when, after 17 years of a seemingly positive working relationship between the City of Somerset and the drug task force, Mayor Girdler and Acting Police Chief Doug Nelson suddenly decided to drop four drug task force workers who had been working as employees of the City of Somerset from the city’s payroll and insurance and benefit plans. (Only two of the four employees were on the city’s insurance plan.) A Somerset Police officer who had been assigned to the LCADTF was suddenly removed from his position, and Nelson himself resigned from the drug task force board. Nelson also threatened to strip three drug task force agents — including LCADTF Director David Gilbert — of their arrest powers. Compounding the problem, drug task force officials claim, is the fact that the city’s removal of itself from involvement with the drug task force put the task force in serious danger of losing federal funding — which could lead to the eventual shut-down of the entire operation. Early this week, it appeared as if Mayor Girdler had complied with most of the requirements in the restraining order — except for one key issue: On Friday, Gilbert learned that his police powers, and the police powers of the two other agents who had been sworn in by the City of Somerset, had been stripped as of July 26. “We weren’t notified by the police department that we are no longer police officers,” Gilbert said. Yesterday, Gilbert said he still had not received word that Girdler had restored the agents’ police powers. “We’ve asked the board’s legal counsel to see what is taking so long,” Gilbert said. Luckily, the agents who were stripped of their police powers haven’t made any arrests since July 26, although they have assisted federal agents during that time. Had the agents made an arrest during the time in which they were unaware that they weren’t sworn officers, Gilbert said, they could have been subject to litigation. “The (LCADTF) board and I have agreed that (those agents) should not take any police action until this is resolved,” Gilbert said. Gilbert said the mayor had initiated the process to reinstate the drug task force workers’ insurance and benefits. During a city council meeting held Monday, councilors got little information from Girdler and Nelson concerning the status of the drug task force. Councilman Pat Bourne asked Girdler about its status — whether the drug task force was “as it was before.” Girdler’s initial reply was, “No, sir.” However, when he was pressed for further explanation, he said he didn’t know what the status of the drug task force was. “I don’t know,” he said. “I haven’t been involved the last couple of days.” Bourne asked Nelson the same question, and he declined to comment. City Attorney Carrie Wiese confirmed that the employees’ “insurance, retirement, benefits and payroll had all been reinstated.” Concerning the agents’ police powers, Wiese said the three agents “are not sworn through our department.” Wiese said the City of Somerset had been under the impression that the agents were going to be sworn in through the City of Monticello. Monticello city officials did offer to swear in the three agents, however the LCADTF board yesterday voted not to be sworn in with the City of Monticello until Girdler decided whether to reinstate the officers with Somerset. Officials with the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council are expected to visit Somerset next week to help the city sort out its issues with the drug task force. Meanwhile, Girdler told city council members, “Everything’s in process that should be in process.”