DE - Computer woes greet incoming sheriff

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Computer woes greet incoming sheriff By JANN CLARK World Correspondent 1/4/01 JAY -- Problems with the computer system in the Delaware County Sheriff's Office are causing grief for the newly elected sheriff, who took office Tuesday, officials said. Sheriff Lenden Woodruff said that when he tried to use the main computer in the Sheriff's Office on Tuesday morning, the computer had crashed and was in the grips of a virus, which is eating up all the sheriff's stored files. The computer had been used by the previous administration to store vital county records.

Woodruff said the county's evidence list, warrant list, equipment inventory list and all the accounting records for the Sheriff's Office, while under the control of former Sheriff Jim Earp, were on that computer.

Woodruff said that when he took office Tuesday, the computer had been disconnected from the Internet.

"I'm getting a list from the County Clerk's Office for the equipment that is supposed to be in the Sheriff's Office," Woodruff said. "But there are no log-in records for the seized evidence, which is supposed to be in the evidence room.

"Right now we're trying to put together a backup disk to fix the computer so we can retrieve the information."

Although the breakdown was suspicious, coming on the first day of Woodruff's term, the new sheriff was not placing blame for the computer failure.

"This is what I found, and this is the way it is. Hopefully, there's a resolution to the problem."

Woodruff hired a new undersheriff and brought in several new deputies Tuesday after several former employees resigned.

Rick White, a former deputy with Woodruff when they worked under the previous administration four years ago, was hired as the county's new undersheriff.

Woodruff, a Democrat, beat Republican candidate Gayle Wells in the Nov. 7 election to replace 12-year veteran Jim Earp, who said he didn't seek re- election this year because of injuries he had received in the line of duty.

Before becoming sheriff, Woodruff was chief of police in Kansas, Okla.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/NewsStory.asp?ID=010103_Ne_a11compu

-- Doris (nocents@bellsouth.net), January 04, 2001


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