Frederick County Council Hears Calls For Sheriff To Resign

Citizens testified Tuesday before the Council.Frederick, Md (KM) There are more calls for Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins to resign. He and Frederick gun range owner  Robert Krop have been indicted by a federal grand jury on allegations of conspiracy and false statements to obtain machine guns. Both Jenkins and Krop pleaded not-guilty last week in US District Court in Baltimore in separate arraignments.During a County Council meeting on Tuesday, a few citizens urged elected officials to call on Sheriff Jenkins to step down. One was Richard Kaplowitz of Frederick. “It is incumbent upon the County Council to investigate where are these guns in our community, and to protect public safety,:” he said. “Public safety is under threat by the actions that are alleged to have occurred by the Sheriff. You need to demand his resignation.”A citizen who supported Sheriff Jenkins, Chas Packan of New Market,, called in his comments on Tuesday. “We have a presumption of innocence in this country, and Chuck has served as the duly elected sheriff for the past 20 years, and recently won re-election this past election,” he said. Jenkins was first elected in 2006, and has been re-elected each time since then, most recently in 2022.Alisha Retts of Frederick says Jenkins must go. “He is greatly degraded our community’s ability to trust his department and his leadership,” she said. “While I greatly appreciate Councilmember {Lavonte) Duckett’s strong statement regarding Jenkins, I call on all members of the Council to speak out on the gravity of this indictment, and recognize that the little trust that still existed has been  permanently broken between the Sheriff and his constituents.”Council Vice President Duckett has called on Sheriff Jenkins to take a leave of absence while his case is under adjudication, which Jenkins has already done.Packan took issue with the Council regarding the Sheriff. “Certain Councilmembers who are on the Council currently presume him guilty because of a political bias against Sheriff Jenkins,” he saidIn comments to WFMD News, Council President Brad Young  urged citizens to let the legal process move forward regarding Sheriff Jenkins’ case.By Kevin McManus