DeKalb County jail chief fired over sexual harassment

The jail administrator in DeKalb County, Ala., has been fired over allegation of sexual misconduct, improprieties, and harassment, and a top jailer appointed.

Mitchell Dendy was fired Tuesday, according to a news release from Sheriff Jimmy Harris.

The release stated that Dendy was terminated for "repeated violations" of jail and county employee policy regarding sexual harassment of county workers, spokeswoman Stanna Guice said in an email.

Harris called the firing an "unfortunate situation."

"Obviously these aren't the kinds of things you can tolerate in the workplace, and as soon as it was brought to my attention we took immediate action to resolve the problem," he said in the statement. "I have a responsibility to my employees to maintain a working environment free of any potential threats."

Harris said he has named Rene Ramos as administrator and called him "exceptionally qualified."

Ramos has been with the Sheriff's Office since 2001, starting as a school resource officer and a patrol deputy before transferring to investigations in 2007.

Before joining the DeKalb Sheriff's Office, Ramos was with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol, and he has served with the U.S. Bureau of Prisons in Leavenworth, Kan.

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