County asks that Perkins’ suit be dismissed

LACONIA — Lawyers for Belknap County have asked a judge to dismiss a suit brought by former Chief Deputy Sheriff David Perkins, who filed legal action against the county and Sheriff Michael Moyer claiming he was wrongfully terminated for political reasons.

The county argues Perkins’s suit is without merit because the county has no authority over personnel matters in the Sheriff’s Department, and further because the courts have ruled deputy sheriffs can be disciplined or dismissed for political disloyalty, according to a motion filed in Belknap Superior Court.

Perkins retired earlier this year after being suspended with pay for six months following three personnel investigations, all without any public explanation.

The termination was the result of Moyer’s retaliation against Perkins because the latter wanted to run for sheriff against Sheriff’s Department Sgt. William Wright, Perkins’ suit alleges.

Wright, a Republican, was elected last month, easily defeating Richard Robinson, the Democratic Party candidate.

The investigations into Perkins’s conduct came after he raised questions about the integrity of the Sheriff's Department's Drug Task Force, which is led by Wright. Perkins alleges he was the target of harassment and retaliation by the Sheriff's Department.

In a memorandum laying out the arguments seeking dismissal of the suit, the county’s attorneys state the county should not be named in Perkins’ suit because “the power to terminate a deputy is vested in the sheriff alone and not with any other county official.”

The 12-page memorandum further argues sheriffs can fire deputies for political reasons.

“... Discipline and dismissal of a deputy sheriff on grounds of political loyalty is permitted under the First Amendment,” the county’s attorneys state. “... The wholesale protection of public employees could undermine representative government by forcing those who win elective office to employ individuals who disagree with the prevailing candidate's (and presumably the electorate's) goals,” the memorandum says, citing a federal appeals court decision.

“There can be no doubt that Perkins satisfies any of the tests applied by the federal courts,” the memorandum says. “The position of a deputy under New Hampshire law is categorically policymaking and is freely terminable on political grounds.”

Perkins filed his suit against Moyer and the county in October, just weeks before the election. At that time Moyer said the suit was politically motivated to hurt Wright in the upcoming election. Wright reacted to the suit by saying an investigator from the Strafford County Sheriff’s Department found no wrongdoing in his handling of Drug Task Force matters.