Pubdate: Wed, 21 Mar 2007 Source: Daily Review (PA) Copyright: 2007 The Daily Review Contact: http://www.thedailyreview.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1015 BARRETT ON SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT EXPANSION: TOO SOON TO SAY TOWANDA -- Athens attorney Daniel J. Barrett, who is running for Bradford County district attorney, said it is far too soon to say whether he would be in favor of an expanded role for employees of the county sheriff's department, in which they would be included in a county-wide drug enforcement police team. Barrett said that, if elected, he would consult with the county commissioners and the county sheriff on whether they would be in favor of such an expansion. Whomever is elected sheriff this year might not feel that he could spare the manpower to have the deputies work on a county drug task force, which is a countywide police team that does drug enforcement, said Barrett, who had served as the county's district attorney from 1983 to 1987. And the county commissioners might object to the costs associated with having the deputies on such a task force, said Barrett, a Republican. Barrett's opponent in the race for district attorney, Bob McGuinness of Towanda, has said that, if elected, "job No. 1" would be to put the county's drug task force under the direction of the district attorney, and to cross-designate the sheriff's deputies as assistant county detectives, so that they could serve on the county drug task force. Bradford County District Attorney Stephen Downs, who is not seeking re-election, had opted to have the county drug task force put under the control of the state Attorney General's Office. McGuinness said he would choose to have the drug task force placed back under the control of the district attorney, which was how it was organized when he served as Bradford County district attorney from 1996 to 2000. The task force, since it was placed under the attorney general's control, has become "smaller, less active, and doesn't provide drug dogs," McGuinness said. "I think it's slower to act, because they have to get approval from Harrisburg," McGuinness said. "When we got a tip, we acted on it that day." McGuinness has also said it didn't cost the county anything to have the sheriff's deputies serve on the county drug task force when he was district attorney, because the task force was funded by a state grant and forfeitures from offenders convicted of drug offenses. Barrett said he needed more information before he could say whether he would want to put the drug task force back under the control of the district attorney. While the state would cover the payroll for a task force directed by the district attorney, there are other costs associated with a locally controlled drug task force, such as liability costs, that the county would face, he said. Barrett said that by the time the next district attorney takes office - -- January 2008 -- the state Supreme Court will have made clearer whether sheriff's deputies can take on an expanded police role. There is currently a case before the Supreme Court that addresses the extent to which sheriff's deputies have the power to make arrests. McGuinness said that cross-designating sheriff's deputies as assistant county detectives would take care of any legal questions about having the deputies serve on the task force. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman