ST. LOUIS - Several members of outgoing St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts' administrative team have been notified they will lose their jobs when Sheriff-elect Alfred Montgomery takes over next month.

Montgomery tells FOX 2 that he will terminate "most" of Betts' current administrative staff, although he says some will remain after the sheriff transition.

Many staff members were sent letters on Wednesday, reading in part: "This letter serves as official notice of termination of your employment at the City of St. Louis Sheriff's Office, effective January 1, 2025."

In a phone call Thursday, Montgomery did not disclose how many of Betts' staffers will be kept or how many will be terminated.

"For the most part, we're cleaning house," Montgomery told FOX 2. "We have to bring in our own administration to move the sheriff's office forward."

Montgomery says the St. Louis Sheriff's Office will have 30 administrative staff members when fully staffed.

Meanwhile, Betts expressed frustration with Montgomery's actions, claiming that he disrupted operations at the sheriff's office on Wednesday by handing out letters of termination.

Betts told FOX 2 on Thursday that Montgomery has been vocal about plans to fire his administrative staff members for weeks, but the formal delivery of temination on Wednesday caught him by surprise.

"We knew that he had been talking about firing folks, so for him doing it yesterday kind of caught us off guard," said Betts in a phone call.

"I have a lot of great people who have worked for me," Betts continued. "And for him to come into the building yesterday and hand out [letters] around Christmas time, for him to shake up the department, it's really shameful."

Betts said one of his employees immediately resigned on Thursday after being handed a notice of termination. He voiced concerns about the impact on the department's operations and says his department is already stretched thin.

"I hope I don't have so many people leave that we're not able to get the work done, because that's becoming an issue," said Betts.

Montgomery claims he interviewed all of Betts' administrative staff prior to handing out notices and emphasized that, as with any transition of political offices, the incoming administration has the right to bring in their own team.

Montgomery also doubled down on previous claims that Betts refuses to "transition the office." When speaking to FOX 2 last month, he accused Betts of blocking transition processes and withholding access to servers and resources he deemed necessary for administrative preparation.

"We want to move the sheriff's office in a different route," said Montgomery. "It's time to put our sheriff's office back on the map."

Montgomery narrowly defeated Betts in the August 2024 primary election as the Democratic candidate for St. Louis City Sheriff, an outcome that election officials verified after a recount in September. Montgomery then won the office in the November 2024 general election.

Betts has held the office of St. Louis City Sheriff on the Democratic ticket since Jan. 1, 2017. His last day as St. Louis City Sheriff is Dec. 31, 2024.

On his soon-to-expire term, Betts said, "For 27 more days, we're going to work until December 31. We're going to do the jobs people have hired me to do from day one. We'll keep working."

Montgomery says that 79 people have applied for jobs anticipated within his administration. He hopes to be fully staffed within six months of taking office. His first date at the helm is Jan. 1, 2025.