San Juan County Detention Center Director Tom Havel, who is accused of attacking his wife in January, will remain on leave from his job but will no longer be paid, County CEO Keith Johns told the Farmington Daily Times.

Havel, 54, who earns more than $110,500 a year, was originally charged with several felonies in connection with the alleged domestic violence. But he is now facing a single misdemeanor battery count after a Magistrate Court judge reduced the charges last week, the Daily Times reported.

"Because we have the judicial determination, it's important for us to move him from paid to no pay," Johns told the Daily Times. "That will be the way it is until the court has made its final determination."

While on paid administrative leave since the alleged incident, Havel has been paid more than $18,000, the Daily Times said.

Johns said the county will make a final determination on Havel's employment only after the misdemeanor charge has been adjudicated, the paper reported.

A Farmington police report said Havel's wife claimed he dragged her by the hair and prevented her from leaving the couple's Farmington home on Jan. 11, then threatened to kill her if she told anyone of the incident, the Daily Times said.

"He's done a good job," said Johns of Havel's job performance at the jail. "Running that jail is not easy. It's a fine line walking between how much discipline you need in that area versus running any other facility within the county." 

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