Dallas County Constable Roma Skinner's relationship with some of his deputies doesn't end with the close of the workday.

Skinner's chief deputy also works for him as a concealed-handgun instructor at the Academy for Firearms Training, a private business described on its Web site as "your one-stop shop for Texas Concealed Handgun Licenses." Other deputies also have worked at the facility.

In addition, Skinner co-owns a Cold War-era jet with another deputy and serves with him on the board of a museum. He hired the deputy years after they met because of a shared interest in aviation.

Critics suggest that, at the very least, such relationships between an elected official and a subordinate leave both open to accusations of favoritism, conflicts of interest and of neglecting their official duties. And the employee may face repercussions at work if an outside relationship goes sour.

Scott Henson, former police accountability project director for the American Civil Liberties Union, said that when full-time law enforcement officers run side businesses, it raises questions about how much time they are spending at the business.

Henson said he doubts any big city police chiefs run side businesses. And he said the head of a large police agency should be running the department, not operating a business.

"Most cops don't have some outside business," said Henson, whose Grits for Breakfast blog focuses on Texas criminal issues. "Because it might conflict with their official duties."

Some government bodies frown on off-duty business relationships between bosses and subordinates, or even prohibit employees from working outside the office for co-workers or supervisors.

A city of Dallas administrative directive, for example, states that employees in executive positions "shall not enter into or maintain a business with another city employee who is under his or her direct or indirect supervision." In Montgomery County, Md., county employees are prohibited from working for anyone they supervise or who supervises them.

Dallas County Human Resources Director Mattye Mauldin-Taylor said there does not appear to be a county policy that precludes an employee from working for an elected official while off duty.

Dallas County's policy states that all employees seeking outside work must notify their supervisors and "obtain their elected official/department heads'... approval." In Skinner's case, he would be responsible for approving his deputy's request to work at Skinner's business.

The elected official or department head, Mauldin-Taylor said, also has the responsibility of ensuring that employees are not working someplace else while they're supposed to be on county time.

Dallas County Judge Jim Foster said he was not aware of any policies that prohibit an elected official from employing a subordinate outside the office.

"I think we're plowing new territory here, and ...to my knowledge, at least since I've been involved with Dallas County, it hasn't been addressed," Foster said.

Mauldin-Taylor said there does not appear to be any policy that prohibits elected officials from owning property with a subordinate.

Foster said that he wants to develop an ethics policy for Dallas County, and that those are the kinds of issues that an ethics committee or commission should consider.

Elected officials need to ensure that an employee "is dedicated to the taxpayers and safeguarding the taxpayers' money," said Sherri Greenberg, a former state legislator who teaches at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.

She said outside business arrangements could create a real or perceived conflict that the person is "perhaps on tax-dollar time" while attending to private business.

The Academy for Firearms Training is in an unremarkable red-brick building within several blocks of Skinner's Precinct 4 office in Grand Prairie.

Its Web site features three photographs of men identified as instructors. To the left is Skinner, with a link underneath to the Precinct 4 Constable Web site. His longtime chief deputy, Jerry Hickson, in full uniform, is in the center. And to the right is Ray Allen, a former state legislator who co-owns the facility with Skinner.

Allen was one of the co-sponsors of legislation passed in 1995 that allowed Texans to carry concealed handguns. Within a few months after then-Gov. George W. Bush signed the bill, Allen and Skinner filed articles of incorporation with the Texas secretary of state and obtained a permit from the Grand Prairie City Council to operate an indoor gun range. Allen resigned from the Texas House in 2006, during his seventh term.

Two of Skinner's former deputies allege that Hickson has worked at the Academy for Firearms Training during county work hours.

James Edwards said that he saw Hickson working in the academy's store while deputies were attending training at the facility, and that he purchased a rifle from Hickson at the store in 2006.

Mike Henson said in a written statement that he saw Hickson at Skinner's business "almost every day" over a period of four years. Henson said he had seen Hickson up front "selling guns and stuff" while deputies were being trained at the facility.

Edwards said he was accused of policy violations and fired in 2008 after refusing to resign. He ultimately was reinstated by a state district judge and now works as a deputy constable in another precinct. Henson was accused of falsifying government records by filing paperwork saying he attempted to serve civil papers when he was somewhere else. A grand jury, however, declined to indict him on criminal charges. As part of a settlement, he was reinstated, received full back pay and benefits, and then resigned. Henson's record was ordered expunged by a state district judge.

Skinner said required training for deputy constables often is held at the academy at no cost to the county. Skinner said Hickson has worked at the facility for many years, but not on county time. The schedule of weekend classes for concealed handgun training on the academy's Web site, he said, reflects when Hickson works there.

"He's not the only one," Skinner said. "We have another deputy that works there part time also." Skinner said he didn't know who that was. "They change them out," he said.

Earlier this year, The Dallas Morning News requested copies of records of off-duty employment for Precinct 4 staff members. No records for Hickson or any other deputy who has worked at the academy were provided. Skinner said deputies are required to fill out paperwork about an off-duty job only "if it's a law enforcement job where they use their uniform." Hickson, he said, works as an instructor "and what he's doing down there is not law enforcement."

"If it was, he'd have to apply just like anybody else ... and have it signed off," Skinner said.

Skinner said he was aware of the receipt that Edwards alleges is for a purchase he made from Hickson.

"It could have happened," Skinner said. "But I don't know. And it wouldn't have been a problem. If an officer here needs something and we can go get it for him, sure – we're going to do that."

If Hickson is at the academy during the day, Skinner said, he is "effectively, what you'd say, 'off the clock.' But we're down there a lot because of the training."

Hickson did not respond to phone calls and e-mails.

Skinner said it's no secret that Hickson works at the academy while he is off duty.

"We've done it openly. It's something we've looked at, and it's something that I'm aware of," he said. "You've got to watch the appearance."

Gene Forester, a longtime businessman who turned to a second career in law enforcement, met Skinner more than a decade ago at an air show in West Texas. Both had an interest in aviation, particularly Cold War-era jets.

Forester also pursued his interest in law enforcement. He became a reserve deputy for Skinner in late 2000 and a regular deputy in September 2002, according to state records.

According to Federal Aviation Administration records, Skinner and Forester purchased a Czech-made Aero Vodochody L-39ZA, a high-performance jet trainer developed during the Cold War, in May 2002.

Skinner and Forester also serve together on the board of the Cold War Air Museum, located in a sheet-metal hangar at Lancaster Municipal Airport, which maintains a number of Eastern bloc aircraft.

Skinner said many schoolchildren tour the museum. Seeing the aircraft, he said, helps them understand the threat that the United States faced during the Cold War. The plane he owns with Forester, Skinner said, is not a part of the museum.

Forester said he is sensitive to concerns that some might have about his involvement with Skinner outside the office. There is no conflict of interest, he said, and he tries very hard to avoid even the appearance of one.

Skinner, too, sees no problem with his serving on the museum board with one of his employees, or their owning a plane together.

"We've known each other for many, many years," he said. "And our work relationship is strictly professional."

Skinner said he's weighed his relationship with Forester outside the office "and it's something we've been able to work out."

"If it didn't work out, then he wouldn't be here," Skinner said. "But he is a very productive person."