Citing a 1991 state attorney general's opinion that its members are state, not county government employees, the Harford County Deputy Sheriff's Union announced Tuesday it has decided to suspend a petition drive to win collective bargaining with binding arbitration through a ballot initiative this fall.Instead, the members will work to get requisite authorizing legislation passed in the 2017 Maryland General Assembly session, union president Michael Montalvo Jr. said.In a news release issued late Tuesday afternoon, Montalvo said the union members have been "hard at work collecting signatures from very supportive citizens and were on track to collect the required 10,000 signatures when new information was brought to light by union legal counsel."The drive was launched on June 10. Earlier this month, Montalvo said the effort to get collective bargaining for approximately 300 sworn deputies who work in law enforcement was aimed at getting better pay and benefits. The county budget provided 3 percent raises for Sheriff's Office and county employees, but up to 9 percent for those holding the rank of deputy first class and corporal, and were criticized by Montalvo as inequitable.The Sheriff's Office is the principal law enforcement agency for Harford County and although the position of county sheriff is created under the Maryland constitution, funding for the agency's operations, including pay and benefits for its employees, comes from county government.The union's news release quoted the following Opinion of the Attorney General dated November 1991: "The law is clear and consistent that the Sheriff and employees of the Sheriff's Office in Harford County are State, not Harford County employees. The County Council of Harford County does not have the authority to establish a merit system for the Sheriff's Office; to place the Sheriff's Office within the County merit system; or to authorize a form of collective bargaining for employees of the Sheriff's Office. This can only be done by the General Assembly of Maryland."In view of this information, the union's news release states, "the Harford County Deputy Sheriff's Union is suspending the petition drive and will begin focusing our efforts on the 2017 legislative session in Annapolis.""The members of the Deputy Sheriff's Union would like to thank everyone who took the time to talk with us and sign our petition, and to thank everyone who volunteered their time and effort in circulating the petition on our behalf," the release adds. "The support that the citizens of Harford County have shown their deputies is truly overwhelming and is especially appreciated in these troubling times."Montalvo was not immediately available for additional comment.A spokesperson for the county government said previously that county lawyers believed the union would have to seek collective bargaining rights through the state legislature and could not legally receive such authority directly from the county or through a county charter amendment.