One minute after the polls closed, Bon Homme County Sheriff Lenny Gramkow officially fired deputy sheriff Mark Maggs who defeated Gramkow by a vote of 878-331 in Tuesday’s Republican primary election. Although the sheriff did not give any reason for firing his deputy, South Dakota is a “right to work” state that allows employees to be fired without cause.
After winning by a nearly 3-1 vote margin on Tuesday, Maggs received a letter from the sheriff dated June 6, 2018, at 1901 hours. Typed all in caps-lock, the letter says:
“Mark Maggs:
This letter is to inform you that effective immediately you are terminated from the position of deputy sheriff for Bon Homme County. As of this moment you are no longer an employee of Bon Homme County.
Please turn in all equipment belonging to Bon Homme County by 5 p.m. on June 6, 2018.”
The letter was signed by Lenny Gramkow, Bon Homme County Sheriff.
After receiving the letter, Maggs posted a photo of the letter on his Facebook page with the caption: “Here’s the integrity of Lenny Gramkow.”
“Personally, I think that the move that he did by firing him was really childish,” Nick Kruse of Tyndall told KSFY. “I think the right person was picked for the job.”
Despite the fact that Maggs was recently fired, he will reportedly take charge of the sheriff’s department in January when assuming his elected position. With already more than 1,000 signatures, local residents have started an online petition requesting the Bon Homme County Commission to reinstate Maggs’ job.
“Maggs has a family and 4 young children who have now lost insurance benefits!” the petition states. “Mark Maggs will not be able to take his elected position until January 1, 2019! Let’s petition to get Deputy Maggs reinstated back into full time employment with the Bon Homme County Sheriffs office until he takes over his elected position!”
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