Sheriff candidates talk tough on jail, other issues

Republican candidates for sheriff had a no-holds-barred debate about what to do with overcrowding at the jail Tuesday night.

Sheriff Craig Davis said he doesn’t want to build a new jail but the county doesn’t have many options.

“It’s probably going to be an inevitable thing,” Davis said.

The jail is rated for 46 beds but Davis said he’s had to pack in more inmates — at one time as many as 90.

“As long as nothing happens, that’s OK,” Davis said. “But one incident that’s negative and everyone is going to come down on you.”

Challenger Tony LeMaster, a former Franklin County jail administrator, said there’s no need for a new jail.

“And we don’t need to be farming out any inmates,” he said, referring to taking prisoners to other counties during times of overcrowding.

LeMaster agreed with Davis that the juvenile detention center needs to be moved from the jail and he said that would free up more bed space for the jail.

Jim Honn, retired Shawnee County deputy who’s also a challenger for the Republican nomination, said there’s little public enthusiasm for a new jail.

“The taxpayers aren’t behind this,” Honn said.

A series of alternative methods designed to keep low-risk inmates out of the jail and moving the juvenile detention center are good starts for handling overcrowding, he said.

“A leader looks at every option before he goes to the taxpayers,” he said.

The three candidates took part in a forum Tuesday night in Ottawa sponsored by the Ottawa Area Chamber of Commerce’s Legislative Action Committee, the Franklin County Farm Bureau and the Warren Black American Legion Post.

Among other issues:

• Honn said he intends to concentrate on going after local drug dealers and cracking unsolved big cases.

He said his experience working in a bigger department will enable him to shuffle officers to cover all the communities in the county.

“We need to find a way to provide the service in all these small towns,” he said.

Increasingly because of its fast growth, patrol coverage in the Wellsville area will loom large in future years, he said.

• LeMaster said his experience in all phases of the department as a patrol officer, pilot dispatcher and jailer; and as a training officer for the Wolf Creek security department would allow him to supervise the sheriff’s office in the most efficient manner.

The department’s annual budget has grown from $1.4 million to $2.5 million in a few years, he said.

“That’s an 80-percent increase in the budget,” LeMaster said. “I haven’t seen an 80-percent increase in the patrolling or anything else.”

LeMaster said he supports the department’s law enforcement class taught by Davis to Ottawa High School students and other educational programs for youth.

• Davis said his department has been able to provide coverage to all corners of the county.

The coverage isn’t always as obvious to small communities’ residents because many of the patrols are at night as officers check business buildings and other locations in the smaller communities, he said.

The department has been successful in catching drug smugglers using I-35 as a corridor, he said.

Seized drug money has been used to buy police equipment and there’s enough money for scholarships for high school graduates interested in law enforcement and for mental health treatment programs through the local Elizabeth Layton Center for Hope and Guidance, he said.

The winner of the Republican primary likely will face Democrat Byron Goracke, former Richmond police chief, in the November general election. Goracke didn’t participate in Tuesday’s forum.