JACKSON, MI - Without the right to remove Sheriff Steven Rand from his job, the Jackson County Board of Commissioners did the next best thing - asked him to resign and will ask Gov. Rick Snyder to remove him from office, if he doesn't.

The action came in a unanimous 8-0 vote after an extended closed session with legal counsel and a plea from Rand at the Tuesday, Feb. 20 board meeting. Commissioner Allan Tompkins was absent.

Rand, who spoke for roughly two minutes before the board in open session, is surrounded by allegations in a civil lawsuit that calls him a "multifaceted bigot," using slurs targeting blacks, women, the disabled, the LGBT community and others.

He is an elected official, so the board cannot just remove him from his post. Outside of a voluntary resignation, Rand could only be removed by a recall election or by Gov. Rick Snyder.

The board directed its chairman, James "Steve" Shotwell Jr., to write to Snyder asking that he remove Rand if he does not willingly step down.

"Every time one of our deputies is dealing with a lawbreaker, they will attempt to bring this up as a way to get out of their situation," Shotwell said after the meeting. "We can't have that."

Shotwell called Rand a "good sheriff," but said the situation is beyond repair because of his "atrocious" comments.

A list of allegations in the lawsuit cite recordings of Rand calling a female judge a "scatter-brained c---" and discussing the creation of a violent pornographic film starring a court employee.

At an August 2017 staff meeting about a black deputy under internal investigation, the lawsuit states Rand allegedly said: "We should step on their necks like we used to."

Rand asked the county to wait for the investigation to play out before making any judgment. He admitted his statements were "clearly inappropriate."

"Thus far, the only story that has been told is that of the plaintiff," Rand said. "I'm at a disadvantage, (because) at the advice of counsel I've been advised not to comment on the allegations against me."

Rand left the meeting following the vote, prior to citizen comment, without commenting further.

More than a dozen citizens spoke at Tuesday's meeting - and they were split down the middle on whether the county did the right thing.

"I had a big speech ready for you all tonight, but you did the right thing," former county treasurer Janet Rochefort said. "This was going to have a terrible economic impact for Jackson County."

Others argued for due process to play out, or said Rand's language is common or was taken out of context.

"There's not a person here in this room that hasn't said the same kind of stuff," Del Anteau said. "This board should get behind Sheriff Steve Rand 1,000 percent."

Commissioner Daniel Mahoney disagreed, apologizing to citizens that it took this long for commissioners to act.

"It's been eight days since this hit the news. I've had a migraine for eight days," Mahoney said. "For eight days, something's needed to be said."

Mahoney was the only commissioner to share his thoughts about the situation during the meeting attended by roughly 50 people.

He said the board can accept Rand's apology and forgive him - but he cannot remain sheriff.

"I don't know how you can take out of context that you still wish you could step on the necks of blacks like you used to do," Mahoney said.

Some in the audience audibly laughed at this comment from Mahoney, who is the only African American on the board. But Mahoney continued on.

"This was not a private setting. This was not behind the closed doors in his mancave," Mahoney said. "This was not a conversation between friends. This was a sheriff speaking to his staff. There's not allegations -- there's recordings."