Sat, Sep 06 2008
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Published July 12, 2008 08:47 pm - COLUMBUS, Kan. — The sheriff’s race is the most contested in the August primary in Cherokee County, with two candidates seeking the Republican nomination and three candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for the position. Five in hot pursuit of sheriff’s post By Roger McKinney rmckinney@joplinglobe.com COLUMBUS, Kan. — The sheriff’s race is the most contested in the August primary in Cherokee County, with two candidates seeking the Republican nomination and three candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for the position. Incumbent Republican Sheriff Steve Norman isn’t seeking re-election. Results of a Kansas Bureau of Investigation probe of spending of inmate revenues in the jail are pending. The sheriff makes $35,715 a year in Cherokee County. Seeking the Democratic nomination for sheriff are Gary Allen, Jerry Delmont and David Groves. Allen, 53, is a lifelong resident of Baxter Springs. He is a graduate of Baxter Springs High School and has police certification from the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center, Hutchinson. He is working as a criminal clerk in the Cherokee County attorney’s office. He was undersheriff when he ran unsuccessfully for sheriff four years ago. Allen started as a patrol officer in 1983 for the Baxter Springs Police Department. He was police chief in Baxter Springs from 1988 to 1996. He became undersheriff for Sheriff Darrell Goff in 1996. He continued with the Sheriff’s Department when Sheriff Bob Creech took office in 1997 and served as his undersheriff from 2003 through 2004. Allen is a Baxter Springs City Councilman and said if he were to be elected sheriff, he would serve on the council only until his term expires in April 2009. “I just don’t agree that a sheriff should not be accountable to residents,” Allen said of the current sheriff. “I think the sheriff has to stay more in touch with the community he serves.” He also said, unlike the current sheriff, he would be in regular contact with county commissioners. Allen said he also would keep a handle on finances. Allen claimed that the Sheriff’s Department was three-quarters of a million dollars over budget two years ago, but the actual amount the department overspent its budget in 2006 was $255,173. “The sheriff is an administrator,” Allen said. “He’s the top law-enforcement officer in the county, along with the county attorney, but he’s also the manager of his department. Managing it financially is one of the great tasks he will be held to.” While other candidates listed methamphetamine as the biggest crime problem for the county, Allen said it’s geography. He said crime doesn’t recognize borders, but police agencies must. 
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