William "Billy" Stokes has been the sheriff of Todd County since January of 2007 and says he enjoys his job.

Stokes is now claiming he's been shortchanged and has been doing the job he loves without pay.

"It's been a big inconvenience. It's a financial hardship on me and my family," says Sheriff Billy Stokes.

Sheriff Stokes says he's been without pay for the last two months.

"I'm trying to do a job the best I could do it, but I've got bills that need to be paid and I deserve to be paid," says Sheriff Billy Stokes.

"I think that comes out to $5,800 a month," says Brent Travelsted, Stokes' attorney.

Sheriff Stokes' lawyer, Brent Travelsted, says there shouldn't be a problem with paying Stokes because the Todd County fiscal court has already enacted a budget for the sheriff's department.

"Of course, as per normal procedure, that budget included his salary, however they have declined to pay his salary and he can't continue to perform his job without fulfilling the budget," says attorney Brent Travelsted.

However, Todd County's judge executive, Arthur Green, who is listed as a defendant in the lawsuit says this isn't the case.

"It appears that the sheriff is claiming that we owe him money and I think our records will be sufficient enough to prove that is not the case," says Green.

Judge Executive Arthur Green says he's disappointed that this wasn't an issue that could be worked out with other elected officials.

"I think it's beyond normal circumstances of how elected officials should work to promote the services within a county," says Arthur Green.

Meanwhile, Sheriff Stokes says it's his services to the county that are being shortchanged.

"It's up to the county. If they want the services they're gonna have to foot the bill," Sheriff Billy Stokes says.

Sheriff Stokes says this was all initiated when the Todd County fiscal court asked him to borrow a $30,000 dollar State Advancement for the sheriff's department.

He says when he declined to do this they didn't pay him his salary.

Judge Executive Arthur Green says this is just a temporary advancement that Sheriff Stokes used last year for his department, so it shouldn't have been a problem.