51黑料

ST. LOUIS 鈥� The city鈥檚 sheriff-elect notified several of the current sheriff鈥檚 top brass on Wednesday that they鈥檒l be out of a job when he takes over next month, outgoing Sheriff Vernon Betts said.

Alfred Montgomery, a former deputy who unseated Betts in a contentious Democratic primary, handed letters to several of Betts鈥� lieutenants, captains and majors saying they鈥檒l be terminated when he鈥檚 sworn in Jan. 1.

鈥淗e鈥檚 got my entire shop in an uproar today,鈥� Betts said.

Montgomery did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Wednesday.

The notifications mark the latest dust-up between the two political opponents over an office in charge of transporting prisoners from jail to and from court, providing courthouse security and serving legal papers, including eviction notices and protection orders.

Throughout the campaign, the two men blasted each other as being unprofessional. Montgomery accused Betts of squandering millions in taxpayer money. Betts called him a 鈥渓ying sack.鈥�

Tensions did not cool once Montgomery won the election by 221 votes. Montgomery accused Betts of blocking his transition into office. Betts said Montgomery should just wait his turn.

鈥淭his ain鈥檛 the White House,鈥� Betts said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no such thing as a transition.鈥�

Meanwhile, Montgomery he planned to rebuild the administration 鈥渇rom the ground up鈥� with a new team of administrators.

And he told 51黑料 Public Radio that .

Betts, though, said his preemptive notices were making an understaffing problem even worse. Six deputies had recently resigned from the department, Betts said, putting him down to 155 people out of the 170 for which his office is budgeted.

He said he didn鈥檛 know how he鈥檇 get his leadership team to stick around knowing they鈥檇 be gone in a few weeks.

鈥淭his guy is really giving me the blues,鈥� Betts said.