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Washington County Sheriff

Over their four-year term, a county sheriff is responsible for:Serving as county tax collector in counties where a separate position doesn't exist.Executing court summons, enforcing judgments, orders, injunctions, garnishments, serving evictions, and making arrests on warrants issued by the courts.Preserving the peace, preventing/detecting/investigating criminal activity, control of crowds at public events, control of traffic at accidents, protecting property during emergencies. Custody of the county jail and the people incarcerated within it. This includes providing food and health care to people in jail as they wait for bond or the outcome of their court case. (Note: not every county has a jail, but the sheriff's department still would be responsible for transporting people to the jail they use and to/from court).Record keeping related to law enforcement and people in jail.https://www.uaex.uada.edu/business-communities/ced-blog/posts/2022/may/what-is-a-county-sheriff.a

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  • Candidate picture

    Jay Cantrell
    (Rep)

  • Candidate picture

    Mike Steward
    (Rep)

Biographical Information

Describe in your own words the duties of the office you seek.

Describe in your own words the experience and skills you have that qualifies you for this position.

Describe the first thing you plan to change/improve when you take office and how you will accomplish that goal.

Contest Washington County Sheriff
This is a constitutional office with three distinct mandates. Those mandates are: 1. Operate the county jail 2. Keep the peace 3. Serve the Circuit Courts
I have over 3 years serving as the current elected Washington County Sheriff, and more than 44 years of law enforcement experience, all with the Washington County Sheriff's Office. Over half of that time has been spent serving in a command level role. I have thousands of hours of training, to include some of the most prestigious law enforcement training available, eg. the internationally recognized FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia.
I serve with one of the premier law enforcement agencies in the state. We will continue our collaboration with our regional law enforcement and criminal justice partners to be innovative and efficient in the services we provide to our community.
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