Sheriff Wheeler’s temporary ‘resignation’ draws ‘concerns’ from local GOP Chair Herndon

By Zach Hagadone
Reader Staff

Bonner County Sheriff Daryl Wheeler voluntarily resigned his position, effective Dec. 13 — but only until he’s sworn in for a fifth term Jan. 13 — in order to file for his retirement benefits under the Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho.

According to a Facebook post Dec. 15, “To be eligible to receive those benefits, I am required to be separated from county employment for 30 days,” he wrote.

Wheeler delivered his resignation notice to the Bonner County board of commissioners after consulting with County Prosecutor Louis Marshall about Idaho Code 31-2806, which stipulates that the “senior deputy sheriff” will serve during a vacancy, which means Undersheriff Ror Lakewold will be acting sheriff until Wheeler’s return to office in January.

“As always, Undersheriff Lakewold has my full faith and confidence to stand in during my absence,” Wheeler wrote. “I know he will do a great job leading the Sheriff’s Office and keeping Bonner County safe.”

The announcement drew a range of reactions from members of the public, including many on social media who characterized the move as an example of “double dipping” — with Wheeler drawing the benefits of retirement on top of his regular salary.

However, others responded that it’s not unusual for an employee to collect retirement while still employed.

Bonner County Republican Central Committee Chair Scott Herndon was among those who raised alarm bells about Wheeler’s temporary resignation in order to collect retirement benefits. He specifically cited I.C. 59-1356, which allows for the rehiring of PERSI-eligible employees following retirement, but only if they’ve undergone a “bona fide” separation from a PERSI employer for no less than 30 days and are reemployed with no prearranged guarantee of a position.

In Wheeler’s case, he announced his separation from the county 31 days before the start of his fifth term in office and — while his victory in the November general election does technically guarantee him reemployment — Herndon told the Reader that based on information he received from the PERSI Board on Dec. 18, the guarantee of reemployment for an elected official doesn’t come from the political subdivision they serve, but from voters who returned them to office. 

Bonner County Sheriff Daryl Wheeler. File Photo.

“He’s probably going to be OK on that point,” Herndon said, though he reiterated that there’s still some question about whether Wheeler’s resignation is even official, considering Herndon’s interpretation of the statute, which he argued requires that the Bonner County board of commissioners accepts the vacancy by a majority vote.

Herndon further argued that since Wheeler’s notice of resignation came on the 31st day before his Jan. 13 swearing-in — and since the BOCC hadn’t acted on it as of press time — “I believe it’s technically in limbo. I actually don’t think the resignation is in effect yet.”

In a Dec. 17 email to Wheeler; Commissioners Asia Williams, Steve Bradshaw and Ron Korn; and Marshall — and shared with the Reader — Herndon thanked Wheeler for his service and stated that while the sheriff had “absolutely earned” his retirement benefits, he pointed to “significant” concerns about the legality of the resignation and added, “my recommendation is that you rescind your resignation that you submitted last Friday.” 

In an email to the Reader on Dec. 16, Wheeler wrote that PERSI retirement benefits are based on a combination of service years and age. He has been contributing to the fund since 2001, operating on the “rule of 80,” meaning years of service and age must add up to 80 before benefits can be drawn.

“I reached my rule of 80 years ago, which means the contributions I make every month are not building up my retirement as they did prior to reaching my rule of 80,” he wrote. “My state retirement benefit check is not being paid by the Bonner County taxpayers, but by the state retirement fund. Actually, when I return on Jan. 13, I will continue to make monthly contributions to the retirement fund of over $1,000, with no benefit to me personally. I won’t be starting an additional retirement that I can collect at the end of my fifth term.”  

In response to the Reader’s questions, Wheeler wrote that his monthly retirement check will be $3,994 before taxes, and will start Jan. 1.

“When I return as your elected sheriff on Jan. 13, my monthly salary will resume,” he wrote. 

According to the Bonner County civil wage scale, as of 2023, the elected sheriff earns $109,505.38 per year.

“My particular situation is unique, however, many sheriffs throughout the state are collecting their full safety retirement benefit and at the same time collecting a salary from their county,” Wheeler told the Reader, though he did not respond to a follow-up question to elaborate on what makes his situation “unique.”

Herndon told the Reader that while it’s true that many first responders, law enforcement officers and firefighters have returned to employment following retirement and maintained their benefits, the policy in Idaho Code was intended to allow those public safety employees to come back to work to help ease staffing shortages following “bona fide” separation, with no guarantee of reemployment.

“If they’ve started collecting those retirement benefits, we don’t want to make them give that up in order to get reemployed by a PERSI employer. So that’s the purpose of the bill,” said Herndon, who added that he voted for Senate Bill 1054 in the 2023 legislative session, which created that subsection of code.

“We didn’t want people separating just for the purpose of also collecting PERSI. The whole idea is they legitimately retire, and then came back because there was a genuine need. It stood out at me right away … that’s not what the intent is. This isn’t right — this is exactly what we don’t want,” he said, later adding, “If I knew that this is how it was going to be used, I would have voted ‘no’ on that bill.

Commissioner Williams did not respond to a request for comment by press time, while Korn told the Reader that it’s a “moot point,” considering, “The BOCC has not accepted the resignation of Sheriff Wheeler as of yet.”

However, he added, the commissioners will most likely have Wheeler’s resignation on the agenda for their next business meeting, which according to the current schedule won’t take place until after the week of Christmas.  

Asked whether he was privy to any additional information regarding Wheeler’s 30-day resignation — and specifically about the process, legality and his opinion on the move — Bradshaw responded in an email, “Good questions.”

He followed up by referring the Reader to county Deputy Prosecutor Bill Wilson, ultimately stating, “If he wants to draw his retirement, it’s his money. That would be my take on it.”

Wheeler beat Bradshaw in the May GOP primary for the sheriff’s office, prevailing by the widest margin in the local election with 9,822 votes to Bradshaw’s 2,906 (or 77.17% to 22.8%). 

Bradshaw declined to seek another term as District 1 Bonner County commissioner, instead throwing his hat in the ring for sheriff, and will leave office in January. Republican Brian Domke will assume the Dist. 1 seat.

Wheeler won the November election unopposed.

Wilson did not respond to a request for comment, but forwarded the request to Marshall, who stated in a Dec. 17 email to the Reader that collecting both retirement benefits and a paycheck is a process that “has been and is currently utilized throughout the state and here in Bonner County.”

“Sheriff Wheeler was duly elected in the November election, he is eligible to assume office in January even though he resigned this past week,” Marshall stated in the email.

He further cited I.C. 59-1356(6), which stipulates that “the retired member may elect to continue receiving benefits and not to accrue additional service. In such a situation, contributions shall be made by the member and employer during the reemployment… and any benefit payable on behalf of such member shall continue.”

However, in an email to the Reader on Dec. 18, Herndon said Marshall attended a meeting of the BCRCC the night before and stated that Herndon “may be right” about his interpretation of the code, requiring the BOCC to take official action to accept Wheeler’s resignation.

While only temporary, Wheeler’s resignation has also triggered speculation that Herndon and the BCRCC will move to replace him, as they have done with Bradshaw (for more on that story, see above).

According to Marshall, the BCRCC could wait up to 15 days “and then submit three names to the BOCC,” which could also wait 15 days to decide on Wheeler’s replacement, at which point “the issue would become moot as Sheriff Wheeler would already be in office.”

Herndon told the Reader that the BCRCC would consider it a statutory responsibility to send three names to the BOCC to consider if a vacancy existed; however, he reiterated his argument that a vacancy does not exist since the commissioners haven’t officially accepted Wheeler’s resignation.

“I’m not going to act because I’m not convinced it’s vacant. I’m not going to call a meeting of the central committee [to consider replacement nominees] until I’m convinced it’s vacant,” he said.

Additional reporting by Soncirey Mitchell.