Former County Administrator Tom Patton has returned the $1,600 that Decatur County overpaid him after his resignation in late February.

Interim County Administrator Col. Gary Breedlove said Dr. Charles T. Stafford, the chairman of the Decatur County Board of Commissioners, received a check from Patton on Friday afternoon. Stafford then gave the check to Breedlove on Friday evening.

Breedlove said the money would be placed back into the county’s general fund.

Patton submitted his resignation Tuesday, Feb. 28, which commissioners accepted in an executive session during a regular county board meeting. Also during that executive session, commissioners agreed to pay Patton $29,408 in severance pay. This payment was based on total itemized sick time, accrued personal time off and days worked.

It was later discovered that the amount was in error and featured four days of pay that Patton was not entitled to, amounting to $1,600.

At the Tuesday, May 22, commission meeting, the commissioners agreed to send Patton a certified letter asking for the money to be returned. Breedlove said Tuesday he was not sure if Patton had received the letter before the repayment.