March 28, 2024

Shepherd: Union County’s Sheriff-elect

Mark Shepherd has won the position of Union County Sheriff, according to unofficial results from the Union County Auditor’s Office.

Shepherd received 3,321 votes or 61.01% and 2,122 or 38.99% were votes for write-in candidates. Write-in candidates included deputies Dan McNeill and Brian Burkhalter.

“I don’t know how the write-in vote is going to split out between Brian and Dan, but it shows a lot of dedication and work on their part, I think, to turn out that big of a write-in,” Shepherd said. “I think probably Dan will have the majority because he’s worked hard, so my hats off to those guys. They hung in there and turned out a heck of a lot of votes.”

Shepherd said because of the cost involved, voters are going to decide whether there is a new jail built in Union County.

“Any time there is a change in administrations, there’s going to be some bumps and scraps and some maybe different allocation of job duties,” said Shepherd. “I’m going to have to work through that. Rick Piel is anxious to help me work through that. He’s very graciously volunteered to help me with the transition and I appreciate that very much.”

One thing Shepherd said he is looking at is to help deputies with work-life balance. He said, because of how the schedule was set up, one long-time deputy has worked nearly every weekend of his career.

“Happy workers are good workers,” said Shepherd. “It’s kind of unrealistic to think you’re going to keep somebody happy and keep them long term if they are working every single weekend of their career and only get it off then they are sick or take vacation time.”

Shepherd said he’s going to go after grants to hopefully add an additional deputy. The additional deputy would also eliminate on-call time for Union County and gaps in coverage.

“That’s so they can rotate and have every other weekend off. I think that’s something they would appreciate,” he said. “We will physically have a deputy out 24/7, seven days a week, 365 days a year . I think that’s important.”

Shepherd, who is currently a Dallas county resident, said his offer on a house in Union County has been accepted contingent upon winning the election. Once the results are official, he will move forward with the purchase.

“I’m just honored to be the sheriff-elect of Union County. I’m humbled by the numbers I got in a three-way race and I’m happy. I think we did very well,” he said.

Shepherd praised the voters of Union County for their decorum and said he was treated very well throughout the election, despite competing political affiliations of the public.

“There was no mudslinging. People showed mutual respect,” Shepherd said. “If we had more of that in this world, good old fashioned respect, we would have less troubles in the world.”

Of the two write-in candidates, McNeill was the only one to run a write-in campaign, which he announced following his loss in the June primary. After Burkhalter’s loss in the June primary, he did not announce a formal write-in campaign, but after supporters rallied for others to write-in his name in the general election, Burkhalter said he would accept the nomination, if chosen.

At 8 a.m. this morning, McNeill posted a message to his supporters on his personal Facebook account in which he thanked the voters of Union County. In an interview with the CNA following his post, he said he will continue to serve in his role on the department because of his love of his county and the job. Despite feeling “disappointed,” McNeill said he is deeply humbled by the amount of support” he has received this year.

Burkhalter was not available for comment by time of publication.

Shepherd is anticipated to take over as Union County Sheriff Jan. 4.