Sheriff’s office defends termination of former Madison Co. investigator
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MADISON COUNTY, Tenn. — The Madison County Sheriff’s Department on Monday defended firing a former investigator before a three-person panel. Vatisha Evans-Barken appealed her case to the county’s Civil Service Commission Monday morning. Evans-Barken’s attorney says she was wrongfully terminated and that the sheriff’s department failed to notify his client she needed to return to work, but the county argues it followed protocol. “The lack of communication we believe was the reason there were mistakes made,” attorney Brad Hornsby said. “She failed to call in and get an authorized absence beyond the leave she’d already exhausted.” The Civil Service Commission did not make a ruling Monday. They said they will deliberate and expect to make a decision within the next few weeks.
