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WARREN -- The commander of the Trumbull Ashtabula Group Law Enforcement Task Force will stay on for the time being.
Trumbull County Sheriff's Office Capt. Jeff Orr said he is not resigning from his position as commander. Nor is he retiring Monday, as was said April 19 by Trumbull County Sheriff Paul Monroe during a news conference held to announce Orr was being replaced as task force commander by Howland detective Tony Villanueva.
"I'm staying on. There is a lot of things going on. I am continuing operations," Orr said.
Meanwhile, plans for a change in leadership are "on hold," said sheriff's office Major Jeff Palmer. The sheriff's office is moving forward with a new direction for TAG, but "the timeline might be different," Palmer said.
An agreement between Trumbull and Ashtabula counties that creates the task force states only the task force's advisory board can replace the commander. The board consists of the sheriffs, chief deputies and prosecutors of both counties
Monroe said he was appointing Villanueva because of "philosophical differences" with Orr. Monroe hired Villanueva nine years ago when Monroe was chief in Howland.
Monroe was unavailable for comment.
Officials in Ashtabula County on Tuesday notified Trumbull County officials of their intent to terminate TAG and form their own task force to cover Ashtabula County only, but a final decision has not been made. Monroe's press conference, they said, was not announced to them.
Palmer and Orr said decisions are likely to be made when TAG's advisory board meets May 11.
Ashtabula County Sheriff William Johnson said he will not comment on the matter until after the board meeting, and no final decisions on the fate of the task force will be made until then.
In existence since 2003, the task force handles drug cases that cross jurisdictional lines. Since, the task force has acquired equipment and monetary assets through grants and other funding sources that would have to be divided if the group breaks up.
Orr said he is going to continue doing his job, which includes preparing for two future prescription drug take back days and presentations he is giving at the 2017 Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention Drug Summit on Friday at Kent State University at Trumbull.
"There are a lot of things happening. There are still a lot of unanswered questions. But I'll be here until we figure that all out," Orr said.
rfox@tribtoday.com