LAWRENCE CO. – I am excited to announce my campaign for reelection as Lawrence County Sheriff. I am deeply thankful for the trust placed in me when you first elected me to this office. Serving as your Sheriff has been the greatest honor of my professional life, and together we have made meaningful progress during times that demanded strong leadership, steady resolve, and tireless work.
Since taking office three years ago, our office has faced and overcome major challenges. We have led through a line of duty shooting, complex investigations, difficult financial times, and significant staffing pressures. Despite these obstacles, our deputies have continued to deliver results and serve this community with courage and professionalism, never wavering in their commitment to you.
During my time as Sheriff, this office has achieved major successes. We have made significant drug dealing arrests, seized large quantities of illegal drugs, and secured convictions stemming from major investigations. We have strengthened school safety across the entire county and expanded cooperation with neighboring law enforcement agencies, ensuring that our community benefits from strong partnerships and shared resources.
We have also made historic improvements at the Lawrence County Jail. Our focus has been on helping reduce recidivism and improving inmate outcomes while maintaining safety and accountability. These efforts include the hiring and retention of high quality jail staff, increasing medical and mental health services available to our inmates, implementing Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT Program), launching the Pathways to Progress reentry program, improving inmate communication services, creating an in-house commissary to reduce costs and increase selection, partnering with Hope Resource Center for life skills classes, expanding and increasing staff training, along with many other operational improvements. The jail is safer, more efficient, and better positioned to support continued positive change. In addition, these improvements to the jail operations helped reduce county liability insurance premiums for 2026 by over $300,000.
The Sheriff’s Office has been run with integrity, transparency, and professionalism – values that have produced results visible throughout our community and justice system. I have demonstrated an unmatched work ethic, fostered a positive and supportive work environment, and worked side by side with our outstanding officers every day. Their dedication and performance reflect the culture we have built together.
Fiscal responsibility has also been a cornerstone of my administration. Over the past two years, we have spent approximately $600,000 under budget. We also cut over $300,000 more from the approved 2026 budget, streamlined operations to reduce unnecessary spending, and worked closely with the County Council to balance the county-wide general fund budget. The Sheriff’s Office voluntarily made large sacrifices in budget requests and staffing to help the Council achieve their goal. Responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars matters, and I take that responsibility very seriously.
I am running for reelection because I want to finish what we started. While we have made tremendous progress, there are still challenges that remain. Just as we have done up to this point, we will meet those challenges head-on. We will continue proactive policing efforts, prioritizing the safety of our youth, and maintaining a Sheriff’s Office that works every day for the betterment of our community.
I will also continue working with the County Council to ensure the men and women who put their lives on the line for Lawrence County are competitively compensated. Our officers and staff are vastly underpaid compared to nearby agencies and with counties the same size and tax base as ours. Our employees remain in the bottom 15% of Sheriff’s Office salaries and benefits across the state, while also being given no raise or longevity pay for the upcoming year. We cannot continue losing outstanding deputies, jail staff, and employees to much higher paying departments. Retaining top-quality officers, while reducing the money wasted on continually hiring and training them, must remain a top priority. Our citizens deserve the best officers we can provide!
As I promised during the last election, everything we do is built on the foundational pillars of accountability, professionalism, work ethic, cooperation, and quality. These principles guide our decisions and are evident in the work our officers perform every single day. We know that we are not perfect, but I am very proud of our men and women who are serving you to the best of their ability. I firmly believe we are moving in the right direction and doing the things expected of us.
I respectfully ask for your continued trust and support as I seek reelection as your Lawrence County Sheriff. Together, we will keep moving forward and making this community the best that it can be.
