While the police department is responsible for serving arrest warrants, the Sheriff is responsible for serving what are known as bench warrants issued by the Circuit Court.

Inexcusably, the Sheriff’s Office has a backlog of well over a thousand of these warrants – some of which are for repeat violent offenders. We are talking about “wanted” individuals who have already been convicted and have violated their probation. Many of these people are still out in our communities causing harm by committing additional crimes because no one is actively looking for them.

Of the 234 employees authorized, the Sheriff currently has less than 6 deputies assigned to serve these warrants. This is unacceptable. As Sheriff, I will reduce the backlog of warrants and serve warrants on violent repeat offenders.

At the same time, I will focus on violent crime warrants, I will do more to create a safer pathway for people who have warrants for non-violent offenses to turn themselves in. This is in the interest of justice. The effort cannot be accomplished with piles of dusty files and handwritten ledgers within the administration of our current Sheriff.