Birmingham -  

Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Joseph Boohaker says the county commission should not have cut the sheriff's budget without consulting Sheriff Hale.  He issued the ruling Thursday afternoon after five days of hearings.

The ruling gives support to the sheriff with that part, and says the county acted "arbitrarily and capriciously" when it decided that all departments would have to make the same 33% cut.  Another part of the ruling gives support to the commissioners.  The judge ruled he can not order the county to have an unbalanced budget, and therefore can not restore the $5 million.

Boohaker ruled the county can not enact its new budget with the sheriff's department cuts in place.  He ordered the sides to meet again and continue negotiating.

He ordered Sheriff Hale to look for any funds in his budget that were not already appropriated and look at cutting those.  He also ordered the county to look at departments that are not mandated and find ways to cut those more.

Judge Boohaker made it clear that the county commission has the ability to appropriate and decide money for the sheriff's department.  He also stated that he was not telling the county or the sheriff how much funding the sheriff's department should have, only that both sides need to work together to come to a resolution.

The county and Sheriff Hale will be back in court on Thursday, July 23 to discuss their progress.

The case was transferred to Judge Boohaker's courtroom last week, and soon after the Alabama Supreme Court vacated a temporary restraining order from a Bessemer judge which blocked the county from cutting the budget.  Within hours of the high court's ruling, the county transferred $5.1 million from the sheriff's department.

ABC 33/40 has team coverage of Jefferson County's troubled financial future, including this ruling, on ABC 33/40 News starting at 5:00pm.

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