Anne Arundel County officials and the sergeants in the Sheriff's Office are headed for arbitration to resolve a dispute over their bid to become what would be the smallest bargaining unit in the county government.

Personnel Officer Mark M. Atkisson turned down Friday the sergeants' bid to create an eight-member bargaining unit under the National Union of Law Enforcement Associations (NULEA).

He infuriated the sergeants by doing it after the Oct. 31 deadline for certifying a bargaining unit and by directing them away from that union and toward the group that represents sergeants at the jail.

This week, the sheriff's sergeants, in their third year of trying to unionize, sought arbitration to be allowed to organize under NULEA.

"They are saying ... they want their independent union," said JC Stamps, executive director of the union, in its second year of trying to organize a local for the sheriff's sergeants. He said he felt county officials held the NULEA petition partly to avoid a potential election issue.

But Atkisson said the timing of the decision reflected the time it took to collect the relevant information and make the determination that eight members is too tiny a local.

"A unit of eight people is overfragmentation," Atkisson said.

He suggested the sheriff's sergeants join the jail sergeants because of similarities between the two groups, he said. For example, the education required for an entry-level post in each is a high school diploma, they are in the same pension plan and duties can include guarding inmates.

Sheriff's sergeants, whose request to organize under the Teamsters was turned down by county officials three years ago, contend they have more in common with law enforcement, such as their police certification, than with the correctional group. Jail sergeants do not necessarily carry a weapon at work, have no arrest powers and are not considered on call all the time.

But, said Keith Quaine, president of the International Union of Police Associations local at the jail, it's unknown whether his 23-person group would want the sheriff's sergeants. The sheriff's sergeants would have to seek representation by his union, then the membership would have to vote on whether to allow them to join.

Sgt. John W. Plantholt said the urge to unionize has been fueled by disappointing and unpredictable pay raises, which left some sergeants earning thousands of dollars less than the deputies they supervise.

If an arbitrator sides with NULEA, the sheriff's sergeants would then vote. If an arbitrator sides with the county, the union effort would shift to IUPA, Atkisson said.