The women and men of the Bureau County Sheriff’s Department are very special people. Each one of them volunteered to accept a commission as a deputy sheriff. No one forced them to do it. They all had different reasons for placing themselves at the service of the residents of Bureau County.

This message is directed to those women and men. There are, I am sure, many rumors that are circulating as to why I want to be the Sheriff of Bureau County. There is only one reason: to make the Bureau County Sheriff’s Department the most professional agency it can be. Integrity, accountability, and honesty will be the standard. Previously elected Sheriff’s have terminated employees, for whatever reasons, upon being sworn into office. I will not pursue that course. Each and every current employee will retain their rank and assignments upon my election. A lot of time and money has been invested in each of you and I see no reason to waste that because our opinions may differ. Over the past few months my mere presence has forced the current administration to make changes. I have been vocal over the Merit Commission and the dangerous equipment that you have been using for years. Although others may take the credit, and they have, I have influenced those decisions. In the end, you and the Department are the better for it. I am hesitant to offer detailed thoughts about my plans as someone else will once again pick up on them and take credit. Having said that, I will share with each of you one of those plans. During the first 180 days that I am the Sheriff, I will meet with every employee, in a confidential setting and at a time of your choice. That meeting will be for the purpose of reviewing your personnel and training jackets. I intend to purge those negative items that may have been retained for too long a period. I will be looking at training jackets and asking you what you feel is the course that will help you attain your goals and benefit the entire department and the residents of Bureau County. I will put into place a system of honest annual evaluations, as required by the Merit Commission, that is not based on you writing your own evaluation or composed of positive statements that someone else was forced to write about you.

As I stated earlier, this message is intended for the employees of the Bureau County Sheriff’s Department. The reason I am putting it here is that I want everyone to hear what I have to say. Some of the employees are prevented from listening to or talking to me. If you are acquainted with an employee, please pass this on to them. Thank You.

Prior to my announcing that I would seek the Office of Sheriff of Bureau County, I searched the Illinois statutes to ensure that my candidacy would not be in violation on any statutes, especially in the area of certifications. 55 Illinois Compiled Statute (ILCS) 5/3-6001.5, Sheriff Qualifications, contains no mandated certification requirements to be elected to the office of Sheriff in any county in Illinois. I have requested the California Commission on Police Officers Standards of Training (POST) send me a certified list of all approved courses that I have completed. I have copies of my Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced certificates and will provide copies of those certificates upon request, provided my opponents provide copies of their certifications. Although I have never attended the FBI National Academy, I do have copies of all leadership courses I completed or instructed while in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Interestingly enough, as I was doing that research, I discovered 55 Illinois Compiled Statute 5/3-6007, Training (Sheriff). Each sheriff in the State of Illinois is mandated to obtain “at least 20 hours of training, approved by the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board”. Under this statute, a sheriff is authorized to be reimbursed by the county for expenses incurred obtaining this training, upon “presentation by the sheriff to the county board a certificate of completion” for such training. My reading of this statute is that a sheriff shall complete this training and present the county board with certification of completion of the required hours whether or not he claims the mileage. A simple matter of transparency. In the time I have been a member of the Bureau County Board, over a year, I have yet to see this proof of training for the Office of the Sheriff. As the Sheriff of Bureau County, I will submit this certification to the County Board immediately upon completion of the mandated training.