Elk County sheriff, Jeffrey C. Krieg has filed a lawsuit through his attorney, Shawn T. McMahon against the Elk County board of commissioners. 

The suit was filed on Dec. 6 at the Elk County prothonotary's office. 

According to the criminal complaint as of Dec. 8 it was noted that there would be insufficient funds in the sheriff's department general fund for the 2012 fiscal year. 

That money is used for payroll expenses for employees within the department. 

According to the criminal complaint, the sheriffs department consists of the Elk County sheriff, chief deputy sheriff, three full time deputy sheriffs, three available part-time deputy sheriffs, one full time administrative staff member and one part-timeadministrative staff member. 

Documents show if the sheriffs department continues to pay its employees through the end of they year, they will cause a projected budget deficit of $9,000. 

The sheriffs department is requesting the board of commissioners pay the remainder of wages for the year. 

"Right now we're running fully functioning just like we normally would basically not knowing if we're going to get paid or not," said chief deputy, Theresa Merritt. 

According to the criminal complaint, the sheriff's attorney is seeking court intervention to address the alleged fiscal crises between the sheriff and the board of commissioners. 

"They are very concerned about the stewardship of the money that is entrusted to them by the taxpayers. This is a business issue and it's a responsibility issue," said county solicitor, Thomas Wagner. 

The sheriff's department is arguing that the board of commissioners have cut funding for the department in recent years. 

The 2008-2012 budget indicate that is true, however commissioners said that is due to internal staff changes. 

"The last actually couple of years we've been saying that our wages are underfunded, that they are not giving us enough that we have more work to do," Merritt said. 

The county solicitor said like any other department within the county, the sheriff's department has to budget its money wisely too. 

"He was warned every month about that and no changes were made in his operations. So when December came there was no money left," Wagner said. 

Officials said the sheriff's department is requesting the county use money from other departments. 

"That is not fair to the other departments, because in effect they would be rewarding the sheriff for the mismanagement of his office," Wagner said.

"They're collecting  a paycheck, they go home at 4 p.m., I honestly believe at this point that they do not care," Merritt said. 

On Friday at 1:30 p.m. an out of county judge will oversee a scheduled hearing between the board of commissioners and Krieg. 

Officials said the sheriff and the chief deputy will receive paychecks this week. 

It is unclear if the other employees within the department will receive paychecks through the end of the year.