Publisher’s note: The following Q&As represent the candidates’ views verbatim, as submitted via email in response to our questions, and have not been edited. The Primary Election will be held Aug. 6, with voters allowed to select one of the four candidates. As all candidates have filed as Republicans, the top vote-getter will be the Republican nominee in the General Election on Nov. 5 and the presumed sheriff elect unless challenged by an Independent, filing for which is open until July 29 with certain requirements that must be met through the County Clerk’s Office. – KT

1. What specifically, will you do to reduce the drug problem in Barry County?

Drugs are a continuous problem, it is a daily fight for law enforcement in every county, not just Barry County. My deputies encounter drugs every day, we continually look for drugs, take drug tips from concerned citizens on our tips hotline which is monitored every day as well as work closely with our local drug task force and other agencies to combat the problem.

2. How can you utilize other agencies (ODET, DEA, etc.) to curb drugs coming into the county?

The Barry County Sheriff’s Office is currently a member of the ODET task force.

We work with ODET, DEA, US Marshals, Missouri State Highway Patrol other local municipal police departments as well as the surrounding states task forces and law enforcement agencies that border Barry County to combat drugs coming into Barry County. We currently are seeing a huge rise of drugs coming into our county from Oklahoma.

3. How do you hope to lessen the amount of property crime in the county?

My deputies and detectives work theft of property cases daily. When my patrol deputies are not on calls, they are proactively patrolling areas looking for suspicious activity.

Unfortunately, we cannot be everywhere, so we also ask for the public to call in suspicious activity or if they see individuals stealing to call 911 to report the suspicious activity. Many cases have been solved from the public reporting them. We have a tips hotline on our website where you can anonymously leave a tip. This hotline is monitored daily, and all tips responded to. My detectives work several theft cases a month, they apply for search warrants, execute search warrants, and recover property. I have also encouraged the public to set up Neighborhood Watch Programs to help monitor their communities

4. What training do you plan to require of your deputies, and which specific skills do you aim to focus on?

Currently, the State of Missouri requires certified law enforcement officers to complete 24 hours of training annually. They are only required to take 2 hours of skills and 2 hours of firearms. My deputies currently receive 20 hours of online training, along with these 24 hours of training, I require my deputies to qualify with their firearm twice a year. I have deputies in my department who have completed their instructor training in firearms and taser training and teach those classes to the rest of the department. We send deputies to in-classroom training, (ie.CSI Investigations, Report Writing, Supervisor Management, Stress Management). My deputies receive way over the minimum amount of training required every year.

5. What tools do you hope to bring to the department to continually improve law enforcement?

My main goal is to provide my deputies with everything they need to help them do their job more effectively.

We purchase new patrol cars annually and rotate out the older patrol cars. I have been able to purchase rifles and handguns for deputies.

They are provided with vests and uniforms and have laptops in their cars to respond more effectively to calls and type reports. A lot of the newer technology we have started in 2020 when Sheriff Davis was able to purchase new laptops for the deputies. The new Barry County Sheriff’s Office/Jail building will be a much needed improvement to our law enforcement in Barry County, it is a bigger facility and will provide my staff with better working conditions.

6. How will you set and assess deputy pay?

When I became Sheriff on January 1, 2021, the deputies in Barry County made an annual starting salary of $30,600.00 a year.

My deputies currently start out making $45,000.00 annually. I have managed to increase the starting salaries for Barry County Deputies by 14,400.00. My deputies work hard, take on extra projects during the summertime and work overtime hours if needed, they deserve to make as much as I can get for them.

Every year, I call other agencies to see what they are paying as well as assess how much money we have in our budget for salaries. My goal is to make sure we pay wages that are competitive with what other agencies pay, hoping this will attract deputies to our department.