GILMER — Upshur County Commissioners fired 19-year Building Maintenance Supervisor Charles Daniels on Monday after finding he violated trustee labor rules, County Judge Dean Fowler said.
Commissioners voted 3-0 to terminate Daniels. Commissioner James Crittenden abstained from the vote. Fowler said he does not believe criminal charges could result from the findings; however, he said they were serious enough that the court had to end Daniels employment. He said the violations are grounds for the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Education to revoke Daniels’ jailer certification.
“I got a call from a citizen who had a concern about inmates being unattended at Sam’s in Longview,” said Pct. 2 Commissioner Cole Hefner.
A couple of days later, Sheriff Anthony Betterton also received a call about inmates being left unattended in the parking lot of Sam’s Club in Longview, Hefer and County Judge Dean Fowler said.
Video surveillance that county obtained from Sam’s showed that Daniels had left the inmates in a vehicle in the parking lot without supervision while he was inside the store for more than half an hour, Fowler said. The vehicle was marked as belonging to Upshur County.
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