Oregon deputy demoted after sex change

McMINNVILLE, Ore. — A veteran Yamhill County sheriff's sergeant who had sex-change surgery has been demoted for undisclosed disciplinary reasons.

Sgt. Debra Walker, 53, a county employee for 18 years, has been demoted to entry-level deputy sheriff.

Sheriff Norm Hand did not return calls from The Associated Press. Walker declined to comment to the McMinnville News-Register. County commissioners and the county's legal counsel declined to provide reasons or release documents.

Walker, the most junior of the department's five patrol sergeants, disclosed to the McMinnville newspaper earlier this year that she had undergone surgery to change her gender from male to female.

County counsel John Gray said the demotion, approved by the county Board of Commissioners, was for disciplinary reasons. He declined to describe them. He also declined to release county records related to the demotion, saying they were exempt from disclosure under Oregon's public-records law.

The demotion will cost Walker more than $9,000 a year.

As a patrol deputy, Walker will have to serve a probationary period, during which she could be fired at any time.

In earlier interviews, Walker, still married and living with her longtime partner, told the News-Register that going through the gender change might have been easier in a larger city.

One thing that kept her here was her sergeant status, she said at the time. If she were to move to another law-enforcement agency, she'd have to begin at entry level and work her way up again.

Walker recently returned to patrol after doing office work for much of the past two years, instead of providing supervision in the field.

The change from patrol to administration came shortly after Walker announced she'd be undergoing "gender-reassignment surgery."

Hand has said that the office work was an administrative choice when there was a need for such a position and that Walker had the skills to fill it.

In earlier comments on the issue, Hand said Walker's gender transformation, carried out in stages over many months, resulted in some tension in the department. But he said it did not lead the department to treat her any differently.

"As with everyone, we look at how they do their job, not who they are," he said at the time. "We judge on performance."

In January, Walker reached a settlement with a females-only gym after her membership was canceled without explanation.