Multnomah County Sheriff Dan Staton will give up his top-of-the-line $33,623 Dodge Charger R/T -- complete with satellite radio, fancy speakers and a sunroof -- after the car's eyebrow-raising purchase made headlines.

Staton, in a phone interview Wednesday with The Oregonian/OregonLive, said the car will go to a "first responder" whose ride needs an upgrade. He did not say which position or employee in his office would be assigned the vehicle.

Willamette Week first reported Tuesday that Staton's official vehicle is equipped with a first-rate sound system, a sunroof, leather seats, 8-by-20-inch polished aluminum wheels and a five-year subscription to SiriusXM satellite radio.

And it was bought outside normal county procedure, the newspaper reported.

The county fleet department said it didn't have money last June to replace Staton's car, which was only a year old and not scheduled to be turned in, with more expensive model.

Instead, in an unprecedented move, the sheriff's office set aside the fleet department's recommendation and used discretionary funds from its own $135 million budget.

Staton said he wasn't aware of the departure from protocol until he read the Willamette Week article.

"This is my fault," he said. "I should have had my eye on the ball on this one, and I didn't."

Staton downplayed the car's reported luxury. It's roomy with a sunroof and navigation system, he said, but it has only a "standard" radio and wireless phone system -- and no CD player.

"There's nothing special about the car," he said.

Still, he's decided to transfer the car to someone else.

"We're going to move it to a first responder position," he said. "I think that's the appropriate use of taxpayer dollars."

The president of the county's patrol deputies union, whose members issued a no-confidence vote amid allegations Staton has treated workers poorly, reacted to the decision with surprise.

"That's the strangest solution I've ever heard," Deputy Matt Ferguson said. "That doesn't make it right."

Ferguson questioned whether the car was fit for patrol duty.

"I'm sure deputies would want to drive it for fun," he said. "It'd be like driving a sports car."

Staton said the car would need an overhaul before suspects could ride in the backseat.

The sheriff in recent months has faced intense scrutiny, triggered by a threatened lawsuit by one of his chief deputies. Days after he was cleared of criminal wrongdoing in an Oregon Department of Justice investigation, his patrol deputies requested an administrative review of Staton's behavior.

In response to their complaint, County Chair Deborah Kafoury last week launched a county inquiry into Staton's treatment of employees.

The patrol deputies union also accused Staton of trying to discourage their recent no-confidence vote, writing that Staton dangled a promotion in front of Ferguson, and talked of suing "anyone who turns their back on me." Staton denied the deputies' allegation.

Two of the three unions representing sheriff's office employees -- the patrol deputies union and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Local 88 -- have called for Staton's resignation in recent weeks.

The sheriff said he awoke not long after midnight Wednesday to read the latest media report about his office.

"I wish I could tell you this is a bad dream," he said Wednesday afternoon. "I just can't."

-- Emily E. Smith

esmith@oregonian.com

503-294-4032; @emilyesmith