Sheriff sues BOC over 'arbitrary and capricious' Resolution No. 25-249

MARIE

Groundcover contributor

In a civil lawsuit filed in December 2025, County Sheriff Alyshia Dyer accused the County Board of Commissioners (BOC) of overstepping its authority when it transferred control of human resources for the sheriff’s department to the county administration. The suit alleges that the BOC's action is part of a pattern of behavior in which commissioners have attempted to undermine the sheriff and her operations. 

The resolution moves four key personnel, who are appointed special deputies under the Michigan Constitution, from the Sheriff’s office to the county HR department. In addition a dedicated county HR liaison would support the daily functions within the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office.

According to the resolution, the BOC “is deeply concerned by widespread reports of misconduct and detrimental internal operations within the Sheriff’s Office’s internal HR function, including but not limited to allegations of intimidation, punitive retaliation and a systemic breakdown of employee confidence.” The BOC has failed to provide any specifics about the allegations.

In her suit, case No. 25-002227-CZ, Dyer is requesting relief preventing the transfer of the four HR personnel, who are appointed special deputies. The suit claims the resolution violates Michigan’s 1963 Constitution, and is “ultra vires, arbitrary and capricious.” A link to the 87-page filing may be found at tcweb.ewashtenaw.org/PublicAccess/CaseDetail.aspx? CaseID=442942. 

According to uslegalforms.com, “Ultra vires is a legal term derived from Latin, meaning ‘beyond powers.’ It refers to actions taken by a corporation or its officers that exceed the authority granted to them by law…” 

According  to law.cornell.edu/wex, “To be capricious is to have an unpredictable, sudden, and unaccountable change in attitude or behavior. Arbitrary and capricious conduct is willful and unreasoning action without consideration or regard for the facts and circumstances.”

According to the lawsuit, Dyer learned about the resolution via social media the day before the vote. One of the challenges with the resolution as passed includes the HR special deputies’ job descriptions, as they include responsibilities specific to the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement (MCOLE) standards, state laws, federal mandates and established law enforcement best practices. HR job descriptions and special deputization details may be viewed in the exhibits section of the lawsuit.

The BOC is reported to have expressed concerns related to personnel issues during the Dec. 3 BOC meeting.  On Dec. 18, County Administrator Gregory Dill, Commission Chair Katie Scott and Vice-chair Justin Hodge were interviewed on the 1290AM Lucy Ann Lance Show, and explained that a motivating factor for the resolution included an ongoing sexual assault investigation, and lessons from the #MeToo movement. In the lawsuit Dyer states that her approach to the sexual assault allegation is through an interdependent investigation by an outside agency. This is recognized as a best practice. 

If the BOC, WCSO personnel or residents are concerned about law enforcement misconduct, a complaint may be filed with the U. S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Misconduct complaints handled by the DOJ include federal criminal enforcement such as “excessive force, sexual assault, intentional false arrests, theft or the intentional fabrication of evidence resulting in a loss of liberty to another.” 

Federal civil enforcement includes the police misconduct provisions which “make it unlawful for State or local law enforcement officers to engage in a pattern or practice of conduct that deprives another person of rights protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States.” More information about addressing police misconduct law and how to file a complaint with the DOJ may be found at www.justice.gov.

 In the lawsuit the Sheriff reports learning about the resolution on social media, and several constituents have expressed concerns about online attacks of Dyer. The lawsuit references online messages that it calls reprimanding, chastising and condescending with the implication that the sheriff reports to them and not to the voting public. 

To gain an outside perspective into how HR is handled in other sheriff departments, a nearby county Sheriff was interviewed. This Sheriff stated, “If all 83 [Mich.] sheriffs were interviewed you would probably get 40 different answers. Smaller departments do what they need to do, and larger ones have specified personnel [with differing job titles and functions].” The nearby county Sheriff shared they have an “HR mix kind of. The Sheriff’s department is a unique animal as there is a co-employer relationship. For example, I don’t fund the employees, they [the county] do, but they can’t say who I fire, hire or discipline. Onboarding is dual, through county HR programs such as sexual harassment, but I have my own training procedures and protocols. The executive assistant handles a lot, including primarily education. Once the initial hire is complete, we keep our own records, except pay raises go through county finance. Discipline stays here until they leave. Medical file and corrections cleared is kept in a separate protected file. Internal investigations start with the sergeant and then go through the sheriff, if they are reviewed and unfounded then they go to the executive assistant for filing.”

The month before the resolution was presented, Dyer gave a presentation to the BOC about the status of the WCSO budget, which includes a gap in funding for the jail.  The jail budget shortfall is not new to Sheriff Dyer. Under Sheriff Clayton there were nearly identical budget shortfalls. While a large portion of the WCSO budget relates to jail funding, much of the anticipated shortfall is due to unbudgeted-for contracts, as well as to decreasing job vacancies for budget cuts, which increased overtime costs. Many jail contracts were negotiated during COVID. These contracts and budget expectations have been called predatory and harmful to physical health, mental health, dietary needs and staffing for WCSO personnel and inmates. See Groundcover News, Mar. 7, 2025, “Dive in Sheriff’s Budget Reveals Predatory Revenue Streams” for more in-depth coverage of a recent Freedom of Information Act request.

The BOC answer to WCSO shortfalls, during the Nov. 18 meeting, was a demand for Dyer to implement more lockdowns and a 2% decrease in expenditures. According to the Sheriff  90% of inmates are in pre-trial diversion, and WCSO personnel have come to BOC meetings to remind the BOC, “They are innocent.” 

During the meetings following the budget presentation, residents and WCSO staff expressed their concerns over BOC statements during meetings and on social media — related to the Sheriff, the treatment of inmates and working conditions. Residents expressed concerns over lockdowns, as it shows a lack of understanding rights, a lack of empathy about what the lockdown experience means and a lack of fiscal knowledge about the cost of incarceration. 

Lockdowns mean inmates aren’t allowed to participate in programming such as substance use disorder treatment, which may be a condition of release. Lockdowns mean not being able to manage basic hygiene, and they further limit timely mental health and physical health care access. BOC changes to staffing vacancies have increased the hours worked per day, increased wages, decreased health for inmates and  decreased the health of deputies.

A few WCSO deputies, who are also Washtenaw residents, backed the Sheriff’s concerns about lockdowns, violence, inhumane treatment and lawsuits. Several jails and state prisons have recently been found in violation of federal laws. Wisconsin has seen multiple cases this decade, including court cases out of Waupun prison and the surrounding Waukesha County. Multiple news outlets have covered stories about unsanitary conditions, reports of drug use, neglect, abuse, bug and rodent infestations and several inmate deaths.

Washtenaw County Edition’s Jan. 7, overview of the BOC meeting (on YouTube), provided an updated case status showing the defendants were given until Feb. 19, 2026 to respond. The case was reassigned to Judge John McBain Jr. in Jackson County after all Washtenaw judges disqualified themselves from presiding over the case as to do so “would create the appearance of impropriety.” 

In lieu of a final judgement in the HR resolution lawsuit, there is room for WCSO improvement beyond simply making cuts to the budget. At this time, Dyer’s efforts include working to improve jail conditions, mental health of deputies, decreased response times and maintaining MCOLE licensing standards. 

WCSO, like most departments across the country, is not accredited, and accreditation is not mandatory. According to the nearby Sheriff, “Not many departments are” as “it’s relatively new.”

In 2016 the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police (MACP) created the Michigan Law Enforcement Accreditation Program. In 2020, the Michigan Sheriffs’ Association joined MACP’s efforts to enhance policing standards through accreditation. The nearby Sheriff interviewed described the accreditation program as being agency specific, with over 100 required written standards for policies and procedures. “Not only do you have to have a policy, you have to live it out and show proof.” During the accreditation assessment when issues are identified, efforts are made to rectify the issues, then accredited agencies are required to renew every three years.

At this time no Washtenaw County law enforcement agencies are on MACP's list of accredited agencies. Accreditation has the potential to improve the transparency, access and trust the community has with the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office.