Two Howard County deputies terminated from Sheriff’s Office

Two Howard County Sheriff’s deputies have been terminated following an internal investigation by Sheriff Bryan McJunkins. Deputy Eric Billings and Chief Deputy John Eric Glidewell were both relieved of their duties in mid-January. Sheriff Bryan McJunkins said his investigation began because the work performance of both deputies has been drastically declining. The sheriff said both employees were terminated for failure to perform the responsibilities of their duties.
Deputy Billings was terminated January 15th. Chief Deputy Glidewell was initially put on a paid suspended leave January 13th and was terminated from his position January 18th.
Billings had been employed as a deputy since December of 2015. Gidewell’s employment with the sheriff’s office dated back to 2003, when he was hired as a jailer. He later became a sheriff’s deputy, and has served as the department’s Chief Deputy the past six years.
Sheriff McJunkins said the job duties of the two terminated deputies is being distributed throughout the department on an interim basis.