Cuyahoga County Sheriff Harold Pretel is suing the county executive’s office, the latest step in a long-running conflict over the sheriff’s department’s overtime spending and who has ultimate authority over the sheriff’s budget.
In December, County Executive Chris Ronayne moved the sheriff’s budget office directly under his office’s control, which led the sheriff to take legal action.
“Defendant is actively seeking to commandeer the management of the finances of the Sheriff’s Department, including unilaterally ‘reassigning’ or ‘recharacterizing’ employees of the Sheriff’s Department to departments under the control of the County Executive and taking over payroll responsibilities from the Sheriff related to Sheriff’s Department employees, including senior staff members, who report directly to the Sheriff,” the department’s outside counsel, Aaron Glasgow, wrote in a complaint filed Tuesday in Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas.
A dispute over the sheriff’s department’s budget for 2026 and 2027 played out partially in public, during budget hearings at county council toward the end of last year. Employees from the sheriff’s office told council they would not be able to get through the year with the funding proposed by the executive.
The sheriff’s budget staff was physically relocated to the county’s administrative headquarters and placed under the direct supervision of the executive’s budgeting office shortly after.
The executive’s office said at the time the move had been planned for months prior to the budget dispute. The lawsuit is seeking an injunction to reverse that step and a finding that the sheriff has ultimate authority over his office’s spending.
The county executive’s office has yet to respond to the complaint in court and declined to respond to the sheriff’s legal arguments.
“We are disappointed that Sheriff Pretel has chosen to waste public taxpayer money on a meritless lawsuit,” said Communications Director Kelly Woodard. “We will continue to maintain strong financial controls for all County departments, including the Sheriff’s Department, while keeping our focus on serving the residents of Cuyahoga County, where it belongs.”
Cuyahoga is the only county in Ohio with an appointed sheriff instead of an elected one. The executive appoints the sheriff.
The county’s charter gives the sheriff the authority to hire staff and, according to the lawsuit, “does not provide the authority to the Executive to operate the Sheriff’s Department, or otherwise manage or control the daily operation or functions of the Sheriff’s Department or its employees.”
Under Pretel, the sheriff’s department has exceeded its overtime budget each year.
“In 2022, we added 16 [million], 2023 – 19 [million], 2024 – 16 [million]. 2025 we’re on board to add 15 [million]. So, this is nothing new. But we always do it. And it’s got to stop. We’ve got to get to a number,” said Councilmember Michael Gallagher during budget hearings in December.
Shortly after that hearing, the executive took over control of the sheriff’s budget office.
