Granville County Sheriff Brindell Wilkins may be off the job, but he still wants his paycheck.
Wilkins was indicted last month on two counts of obstruction of justice. He is accused of urging someone to kill a deputy he thought was about to expose his alleged use of racially offensive language.
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Because of the pending charges, Wilkins agreed last week to a suspension until the case is resolved.
Granville County Attorney Jim Wrenn said Wilkins has requested that the suspension be with pay, but Wrenn said the Board of Commissioners has made no decision on the request.
Wilkins, who has served as sheriff since 2009 and was re-elected last year to a four-year term, has an annual salary of $109,608.
Commissioners met behind closed doors for about 45 minutes Thursday morning, where Wrenn said he explained to them that a petition to remove Wilkins from office is on hold because the sheriff is suspended.
The Board of Commissioners has no authority to remove Wilkins, an independently elected official, but state statutes do provide a legal process where a sheriff can be removed if "engaged in willful misconduct, willful refusal to perform the duties of his office or corruption."
"It would become relevant only after the conclusion of the criminal case," Wrenn said. "We would have to determine, if he were convicted of a felony, then that’s a statutory bar to him serving as sheriff. If he were acquitted of a felony or convicted of a lesser offense than a felony, then we’d have to determine how to move forward with the removal petition or not."
The indictment alleges that Wilkins told someone in August 2014 to kill then-Deputy Joshua Freeman, telling the person to "take care of it" and "the only way you gonna stop him is kill him." The indictment also alleges that the sheriff then withheld knowledge of a threat against Freeman.
Freeman worked for the Granville County Sheriff's Office from November 2011 until August 2014, days before the actions outlined in the indictment allegedly occurred. At the time, he was let go because "his services are no longer needed," Wilkins wrote in his termination letter.
According to the indictment, Wilkins "counseled the individual how to commit the murder," telling him not to talk and assuring him that Wilkins would not give him away to any investigation that followed. The indictment says that the person threatening Freeman even showed Wilkins the gun he planned to use and that Wilkins failed to take it away.
Wilkins has denied any wrongdoing.
Deputy Sheriff Sherwood Boyd is handling the duties of sheriff during Wilkins' suspension.
The State Bureau of Investigation also is looking into allegations concerning the Granville County Sheriff’s Office’s accounting practices and controlled substance interdiction efforts, authorities have said.
Investigators also are taking another look at a 2016 murder-suicide involving Granville County Deputy Jeremy Pearce, who killed his estranged wife and himself. Pearce served in the sheriff's office's drug unit, and drugs and thousands of dollars were found at the scene.