Danny Ceisler Credit: Submitted
The Bucks County Republican Committee is questioning whether public funds were used for a cross-state trip by Sheriff Danny Ceisler to attend a “No Kings” protest in Pittsburgh last weekend.
In a press release and in a social media post, Republican officials accused the Democratic sheriff of abandoning his local duties to participate in “political grandstanding” nearly 300 miles away from Bucks County.
Ceisler, who took office in January, strongly denied that any taxpayer funds were used and noted his trip was planned before he was invited to the Pittsburgh No Kings event.
“It is absolutely disgraceful that while our local law enforcement officers are working around the clock to keep our streets safe, Danny Ceisler is halfway across Pennsylvania speaking at a radical political rally,” said Bucks County Republican Committee Chairperson Pat Poprik.
The Republicans characterized the trip as a “publicity stunt.”
The committee called for a full accounting of any taxpayer resources used for the excursion. However, they did not provide any evidence Ceisler used taxpayer funds.
Ceisler, who ousted Republican Sheriff Fred Harran, denied the claim of impropriety.
“I used zero taxpayer dollars” on the trip, Ceisler said.
The sheriff, a lawyer and U.S. Army veteran who has not previously served in a uniformed law enforcement role, said he used his personal vehicle and stayed at a friend’s home to make sure no public or campaign funds were spent.
“I paid for the trip out of my own pocket,” Ceisler said.
According to Ceisler, the main purpose of the trip was to speak at a Butler County Democrats breakfast. He did meet with the Butler County sheriff and other elected officials.
Ceisler described the No Kings event as a “tag-on at the very end” and it came after he already planned to head to the western part of the state.
The Republican committee criticized the sheriff’s absence amid what they described as a “mounting backlog of unserved warrants.”
“There is no basis for the claims made in the press release,” Ceisler said, adding he is dedicated to the role of sheriff and comfortable with the progress made during his short tenure.
The sheriff’s office is open during the workweek and the event happened on the weekend when the courts were closed, he stated.
Ceisler dismissed the criticism by the GOP as politically motivated.
Democrats hammered Harran, a longtime police official, for a backlog of warrants and for entering the office into an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which gave some deputies special federal immigration powers, during last year’s campaign.
“I could not be more proud of our major improvements in protecting victims of domestic violence, making huge strides in tackling our county’s mountain of outstanding criminal warrants, and expanding partnerships with our federal law enforcement partners to target violent offenders,” Ceisler said.
The sheriff didn’t have a total number of warrants his office had active offhand, but he noted the number is always changing.
Ceisler’s administration has focused on the rate of warrants being served through policy changes and putting more deputies on the road to make arrests, one of the office’s core duties.
Since taking office, the agency has reduced the number of outstanding domestic warrants by 41 percent, Ceisler said.
The sheriff’s office has approximately 75 sworn deputies and 20 unsworn staff.
The sheriff’s office serves as the enforcement arm of the Bucks County court system and is different than a municipal police department. It is responsible for courthouse security, prisoner transport, and the service of warrants and court orders and documents.
