A 24-year-old former reserve officer for the Ward County Sheriff’s Office received a deferred imposition of sentence and community service Wednesday for allegedly wearing his uniform when he was not on duty.

Taylor Lee Barnett, who now lives in Mandan, pleaded guilty to impersonating a public official, a Class A misdemeanor.

“What you did takes away from the trust and confidence the public has in public officials,” said Judge Doug Mattson.

Mattson told Barnett he should be grateful his attorney worked out such a favorable plea deal for him.

Mattson agreed to the deferred sentence, which means the charge will be dismissed if Barnett successfully completes probation, because Barnett has no prior record.

Mattson did tack on the 40 hours of community service, which he ordered Barnett to complete by Sept. 28.

“I think you’ll think about this more as you do the community service,” said Mattson.

Barnett will be on unsupervised probation for the next year.

Barnett was employed as a reserve officer from June 2014 until March 31, 2015. According to a probable cause affidavit filed with the court, Barnett wore his bullet-proof vest to work as a dishwasher at Homesteaders on several occasions and also used to change into his reserve uniform before leaving work at Homesteaders. Barnett also tried to have regular Ward County Sheriff’s Department badge put on a jacket purchased by him at the Uniform Center in Bismarck. The department sent Barnett a letter in March 2015 terminating him from the program and ordering him to surrender all issued uniforms, equipment and identifications. Barnett turned over the equipment. According to the affidavit, his reserve badge had been altered so it looked like a regular deputy’s badge. Barnett’s Facebook profile listed his occupation as Ward County deputy as of Dec. 27, 2016. Barnett reportedly told the sheriff’s office that he didn’t intentionally alter the badge and that he had never gotten around to updating his occupation on Facebook. As a reserve officer, he mainly escorted and guarded Ward County inmates at the hospital emergency room. He was not a licensed peace officer because he didn’t pass a firearms test, but Barnett reportedly claimed to be licensed or eligible for a license on an application for the Surrey Police Department.