Commissioner Joe Barton Wednesday asked for more information about an incident in which a road department employee was threated with a gun.

The employee was part of a crew trimming limbs on county right-of-ways. He was told to stop by a property owner who had a gun pointed at him from his front porch.

“I talked with one of people involved, and he said he signed a statement saying he didn’t want to press charges against those people,” Barton said. “When one of our employees is threatened in any manner, we need to address it.

“I don’t take kindly to threats,” Barton said.

Someone added that a deputy also was threatened while doing a report.

“They didn’t threaten a deputy. If they had, they’d have been over here,” Sheriff Dennis Meeks said, indicating the county jail.

Chairman Bill Godwin said county employees need to know that the commission stands behind them.

“This is yet another incident when all of the commissioners were not notified. It’s part of this communication thing. In order to answer questions from constituents, we need to know. To me, this is pretty serious.”

County engineer Darren Capps said that the employee was told the decision to file or not to file a complaint was his, and opted not to pursue charges.