March 29, 2024

Four candidates vie for position as Union County Sheriff

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As Sheriff Rick Piel prepares to retire at the end of the year, four candidates – Brian Burkhalter, Daniel McNeill, Mark Shepherd and Chad Woods – will be on the Republican primary ballot this June. All candidates were asked the same questions.

Brian Burkhalter

The sheriff in a rural area needs to be “honest and straight forward” and “dependable at all times,” and should “be in the public and form relationships” with the residents, said Brian Burkhalter one of four Republican candidates for Union County Sheriff.

“They need to know that you’re going to be there for them,” he said.

A1989 Creston Community High School graduate, Burkhalter graduated from Southwestern Community College in 1991 and then from Iowa State University in 1993 with a Bachelor’s of Science and Sociology in Criminal Justice.

He then worked as a fraud investigator for Norwest Card Services for four years, but wanted to return to the Creston area to raise a family and to be available to his parents as they had been for his grandparents.

Beginning in 1998, Burkhalter has spent his more than 20 years in law enforcement living and working in Union County as a jailer, Creston Police officer, state juvenile court officer and Union County Sheriff Deputy. For part of that time he served for 4 months as the interim police chief in Creston.

If elected, he said he would focus on being fiscally responsible, keeping the budget under control.

“We need to be very careful about how we spend our money, but at the same time we need to make sure everybody has the tools to do the job.”

He said he also believes that a presence in the public is important.

“I’m from here,” Burkhalter said. “I’m invested in this community. I want to be out in the public like I am now. ... That’s how you form relationships and bond with people so that during difficult times they can come to you.”

Burkhalter said he doesn’t think there are big issues that need to be solved in Union County, just small ones that require a lot of attention.

“I don’t see any major issues with the county,” Burkhalter said. “You’re always going to have thefts ... Out in the county it’s really hard to be in the right place at the right time. ... As far as crime goes, we have very little in the county.”

He said he feels his 20 years of experience in the area, serving in different agencies and in different roles makes him qualified to become the Union County Sheriff.

“I wouldn’t run unless I felt I was most qualified for it,” Burkhalter said. “I also have the time and commitment to do the job. My family is most important and then my job.”

His time as interim police chief, field training officer and sergeant gave him leadership experience he said.

“I know the area and I know the people,” Burkhalter said. “I’m going to be here; I’m not going anywhere.”

Daniel McNeill

Trustworthiness tops Republican candidate Daniel McNeill’s list of qualities important for a rural sheriff.

“When you tell someone you’re going to do something or look into something or accomplish a project that they know, that when you give them your word, you’re going to follow through with that and do it to the best of your ability,” he said.

McNeill graduated from East Union High School in 1995, earned an Associate’s Degree in Police Science from Hawkeye Community College in 1997 and has spent 23 years in law enforcement. He has worked for the Afton’s Police Department and the Union County Sheriff’s Department and has served on the special response task force, a firearms and tactical instructor, and is currently a sergeant with the department.

McNeill would focus on upgrading and restructuring the county jail if he was elected sheriff.

“I know money’s tight,” he said. “We need to be able to hold our own inmates. ... It’s something that will have to be implemented over time. Our jail is getting to the point where it’s starting to be outdated.”

He said it is very expensive for the county to have to transport all of its female prisoners to other jails.

The biggest problem McNeill said he would tackle as sheriff is the thievery in the county. He said those arrests often uncover other problems such as drug usage.

“You try to knock drug stuff in the head and you finally get the crew of guys that are doing the thieving and they are usually the ones who are into the drugs, too.” he said. “It’s an ongoing problem.”

Knowing the county and the area make McNeill the best candidate for the job, he said.

“A lot of people know that I would do a good job, maybe some people look at it as a lack of experience that I haven’t bounced around in a variety of jobs,” he said. “I think the longevity of knowing the county and knowing the people makes me a good candidate for sheriff. ... I’m not a politician. I’m more of a people person.”

McNeill said he is ready to serve Union County.

“I feel I can do the job,” McNeill said. “I have been doing the job for the last 19 years. I know what works and what doesn’t work.”

Mark Shepherd

“No special treatment” and “transparency” go hand-in-hand for a rural sheriff, said Republican candidate Mark Shepherd.

“In smaller communities you can get in positions where people believe there may be some special treatment going on,” he said. “I would be a sheriff for everyone. It doesn’t matter where you live, who you are, whether I know you or not. My whole goal is to have the Union County Sheriff’s Office provide professional, fair and equal treatment to everyone.

Shepherd graduated from Creston Community High School in 1989 and then joined the Army as a surgical technician. His last duty station left him in Texas, so he attended the Texas Regional Police Academy. He later graduated from the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy as well.

In his 23 years of law enforcement, Shepherd has served as field sobriety testing instructor, active shooter trainer, police background investigator and death investigator, having graduated from Medicolegal death investigator school in St. Louis, Missouri.

Shepherd has spent the last 15 years with the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office, where his wife is from, as the county grew from 2200 residents to 25,000. He served in supervisory roles in patrol and as assistant police chief and was in charge of court security and transportation as the county worked to build a new jail.

He has hoped to return home to Creston for some time but did not run for sheriff until now out of respect for Rick Piel, who is retiring, he said.

“I had to leave to further my career,” Shepherd said. “But people who know me know I’m there all the time.”

Shepherd said his focus as sheriff would be to expand the department back to having a presence 24 hours a day seven days a week.

“We had at one time 24/7 coverage in Union County,” he said. “ I think we can do better than that.”

He said he believes that through judicious use of the budget already available and with the addition of writing grants this could be accomplished without adding to the burden of the tax payers. Currently the department uses grants to purchase vehicles, but he believes there are more opportunities for the county.

“By taking advantage of grants that are definitely out there, Union County could certainly add to its patrol deputies,” he said. “I write grants; I look for grants; and they are there right now.”

Shepherd also said grant funding could be used to give attention to the Law Enforcement Center and possibly to develop a reserve program of professionals in the community who could pair with deputies during events so the deputies could have help and there would be more manpower out on the road.

More training for the deputies would be another focus for Shepherd.

“I would also like to get one deputy trained up a little more on detective side,” he said. “A little more into the forensic stuff, the fingerprints, the DNA collection ... because you really cannot rely on state for everything. You have to do at least part of the legwork yourself.”

Shepherd said he feels the biggest problem in Union County is those who are committing crimes in surrounding counties and then returning to Union County. He said better communication and cooperation with other county sheriffs’ departments would help in all of the area counties.

Shepherd said he is the best candidate for the job of Union County Sheriff because he has the advantage of being from the area but with an outside perspective.

“I’m bringing ideas from outside, proven ideas from a cutting edge agency that has been very aggressive with crime,” he said. “I think I could bring some fresh ideas. We could get more bang for our buck, more security, more patrol by utilizing things that are available to us.”

Chad Woods

In a small sheriff’s office, the most important quality, you just got to be a member of the team,” said candidate Chad Woods. “Where a sheriff’s office is six people, you are the sheriff, but you are actually responsible for answering calls. You are administrative but also responsible for day-to-day activities that come up.”

Woods graduated from East Union High School in 1989 and then earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Simpson College in 1993. He has spent nearly all of his 27 years in law enforcement with the Union County Sheriff’s Department — with the exception of a year with the state patrol and two years with the Creston Police Department. He has attended entry team schools and other shorter continuing education classes throughout his career.

If elected sheriff, Woods said his main focus would be public safety and went on to clarify that drugs, school safety and officer training comprise the top safety issues.

“Union County needs to be stronger against meth and opioid crisis,” he said.

Closer partnerships with neighboring counties are part of Woods’ plan to accomplish this, especially the sharing of information across departments.

“Information is key,” he said. “We can’t do it one traffic stop at a time.”

Woods said that in order for the sheriff’s department to be prepared for a major problem at the area schools, all of the deputies should be familiar with the layout of all of the school buildings, including SWCC and the private schools.

“The I in ALICE is information .. it would be nice to know how to get there,” he said. “If that day would ever happen ... in the high school art class. I think every officer should know where the high school art class is.”

Continuous training helps keep both communities and deputies safer, Woods said.

“Complacency can sneak up on you,” he said. “it doesn’t have to cost a lot.”

Woods said he would pay for extra training by keeping a close watch on the budget.

He is a good candidate for sheriff based on his years of experience in the county, Woods said. He plans to stay in the area and said he has good ideas to lead the county into the future.

Consolidation

Each candidate was asked how they felt about consolidating the police and sheriff’s departments. None of them considered it to be a good idea.

Burkhalter said the two departments operate well independently but also work well together, backing each other up when support is needed.

McNeill acknowledged that the task of combining the two would be doable – it has been done in Ringgold County and Mount Ayr. However, problems such as how to enforce city ordinances, which the sheriff’s department does not currently handle, would need to be addressed.

Shepherd said with the size of the City of Creston, consolidation would not be a good idea. He said the sheriff’s department needs to concentrate on the rural areas that are its responsibilities.

Woods said consolidating the sheriff and police departments is “not in anyone’s best interest.” The city is big enough to need its own police force.