Deputy Terminated By Merit Board

A Boone County Sheriff’s deputy, who did not take a mandatory COVID-19 test at the specified time, was terminated after a two and a half hour, public hearing of the Boone County Sheriff’s Merit Board. By a vote of 4-1, the board upheld a recommendation by Sheriff Mike Nielsen to terminate Deputy Tobias Shepherd. It is only the second time the board has met for the purposes of disciplining a merit deputy. The meeting was held at the Farm Bureau Building at the Boone County 4-H Fairgrounds in Lebanon to allow for social distancing of the public. The hearing had several spectators, including a line of deputies and department employees lining the back wall. More details in the Lebanon Reporter.