County, Gatson Might Have Reached Drug Compromise
Rusty Marks
September 8, 2007
The Charleston Gazette
Kanawha County officials might have found a compromise to end an impasse over the county's drug testing policy.
Earlier this year, county officials decided to require drug tests for all incoming employees and allow drug tests of any employee suspected of abusing drugs or alcohol. The policy also allows random drug tests for all employees in safety-sensitive jobs.
However, when Circuit Clerk Cathy Gatson adopted the policy for her department, she removed language allowing for searches of employees and their cars for suspicion of drugs. The county's other elected offices left the language in place.
Gatson said she was worried the search provision violated the constitutional rights of her employees. But County Commissioners Kent Carper, Dave Hardy and Hoppy Shores worried that having different drug policies in different departments opened the county up to lawsuits.
The county's insurance and workers compensation carriers also said having different policies could keep the county from getting discounts on coverage.
County officials and Gatson have been shooting memos back and forth ever since. But a possible compromise was suggested this week.
Carolyn Wade, the lawyer who wrote the drug policy, has said drug searches would be handled on a case-by-case basis, and only with probable cause. But the policy doesn't specifically say so.
Steve Sluss, legal counsel for County Assessor Phyllis Gatson, suggested maybe it should.
"The fix is quite simple," Sluss wrote in a memorandum on Thursday. "The sentence only needs to be amended to read, ‘Employees, their possessions and containers under the employees' control may be subject to search and surveillance while on County premises or while conducting County business when there is a reasonable, good faith, objective suspicion of an employee's drug or alcohol usage in violation of this policy.'"
Gatson said Friday she could live with the proposed amendment.
"I think that it's a compromise," she said. "It just depends on what the county commission does."
Hardy said he would put the proposed language change on the agenda for the next county commission meeting, scheduled for Sept. 13. He said he was hopeful a compromise could be worked out.
"At least we've got it down to one sentence to discuss," Hardy said.
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