Republican voters will select their candidate for county sheriff in the June 7 primary. Chief deputy Jack Williams and deputy Kirk Hammer are both vying to be on the ballot in the Nov. 8 general election.
At this time, there is no Democratic candidate for sheriff.
To assist voters in making informed decisions, GreeneCountyNewsOnline asked candidates to respond to pertinent questions. Both candidates responded; their answers follow.
Q: What law enforcement experience do you have?
A: Kirk Hammer – I have served 22 years as a deputy sheriff. During the time I have served my community, I have held the following positions: jailer, patrol deputy, corporal, sergeant, investigator, and captain/jail administrator.
A: Jack Williams – For my experience with law enforcement I have just started my 12th year with the Greene County sheriff’s office. While employed with the sheriff’s office I have held the following positions: fire arms instructor, defensive tactics instructor, rifle instructor, active shooter response team instructor, investigator, narcotics officer, reserve officer instructor, arson investigator, and I have been the chief deputy sheriff for three years. I have been doing payroll for all employees since being promoted to chief deputy by retired sheriff Tom Heater. I am also in charge of the communications room. I am also a certified dispatcher for the sheriff’s office.
Q: What administrative experience do you have?
A: Hammer – I was in charge of the civil division duties overseeing service of all civil documents coming out of the county clerk’s office. I served in a supervisory position for a squad of patrol deputies, directing their patrol activities. I investigated assigned cases and prepared appropriate reports for prosecution.
I was the captain/jail administrator of a 105-bed jail. I was responsible for all aspects of the 1.5 million dollar annual budget for the facility. This included 33 employees, consisting of jailers, medical staff, and cooks. I conducted weekly meetings with county supervisors discussing budgetary issues.
A: Williams – As far as administrative experience I joined the United States Marine Corps and was rapidly promoted to E-5. After getting injured I was attached to the base game wardens office and was put in charge of the game wardens aboard the base as an E-5 filling an E-8 position. I was in charge of the Marines under me and had to do all of the administrative duties. Since retired sheriff Tom Heater promoted me to chief deputy I have been in charge of the communications office and the deputies here at the sheriff’s office. I have also been in charge of payroll and I have done billing for the cities that we contract. When the jail administrator is gone on vacation or out of the office. I have also been in charge of the jail for those periods.
I have been a volunteer fire fighter for the Jefferson fire department for 13 years this coming July were I have the positions of 2nd lieutenant, 1st lieutenant, and am currently the captain where I assist the fire chief with operations and safety at the fire scenes. I am also in charge of the training at the fire department and keeping records of the training and all personnel that attend the training.
Q: What would be your top three priorities as county sheriff?
A: Hammer –
- Get overtime under control
- Create and foster a team-orientated working environment to increase productivity
- Evaluate purchasing processes to ensure fiscal responsibility
A: Williams – My top three priorities as sheriff would start with continuing to upgrade equipment through grants that directly aide with the safety of the residents of Greene County.
My second priority is the safety of our law enforcement as a whole. Everything that I wanted to do if elected the last time against Sheriff Haupert, we have completed already with very little or no cost to the residents of Greene County. I will continue to strive to improve the safety of our law enforcement officers. I would like to start with trying to get body cameras for all of our deputies as we only have two right now.
My third biggest priority is to educate the youth and become more involved with the youth of Greene County. I believe strongly in talking to the youth at a younger age about all of the issues that they may face as they get older. I have done several classes with the youth at the Intermediate School in Grand Junction. I also want to get deputies to go and just play and interact with youth while they are younger to build relationships and trust with them.
Q: The Law Enforcement Center and the jail are now more than 40 years old. Should action be taken to improve the current jail or construct a new one?
A: Hammer – Any action to improve the current facility would require the entire facility be brought up to current code. As it stands, the facility is grandfathered in under current code and not mandated to meet all requirements. Therefore, at this time no action is recommended to improve the current facility because it would be cost prohibitive. I believe the facility will continue to meet the needs of the county for the next several years. However, meaningful conversations between the sheriff’s office, the county supervisors, and the city of Jefferson need to begin to plan for future needs.
A: Williams – As far as the jail and building as a whole, I, do believe that we need to start looking into ideas to build a new jail in the future. I do not believe doing anything to our current jail is possible without doubling the cost of just building a new one. The reason for this is our current jail has passed all inspections but is needing more maintenance to stay operating. Our current jail is also grandfathered in so that we do not have to meet new and current jail standards, for example natural sun light. The cost of bringing the current jail up to date would be around the same as just building a new jail all together. I have been talking with surrounding counties to see what they are doing as they are in the same boat as we are.
Q: The county sheriff’s office now provides law enforcement for incorporated towns (except Jefferson) along with all rural areas, without adding staff. Is the sheriff’s office adequately staffed? If not, where should funding come from to add deputies?
A: Hammer – I believe we need one additional deputy. Some of the money for the new position would come from moving the chief deputy to a salaried position, controlling overtime, reducing capital expenditures where possible, and capitalizing on efficiencies gained through currently owned but not implemented technology and software.
A: Williams – When I first started with the Greene County sheriff’s office we covered Rippey, Paton, and Churdan. During the years of covering these towns we averaged around 800 calls per year. After contracting with Scranton and Grand Junction, our calls have gone to an average of around 2,100 calls per year.
I do believe that we need at least one more deputy to adequately cover all of the towns. At the current time, it seems like we have only enough time to go call to call and no time to truly investigate case without costing a large amount of overtime. We have a great group of deputies and most are willing to work overtime to solve cases. But if we had one more deputy that would take some of the overtime away but would also cost the residents of Greene County about the same amount as we would have a new position of payroll.
As far as where the money should come from to add another deputy, with the current trends on crop prices and the new taxes for certain property, I am concerned about the county’s revenue to pay for the new position. I hope that after this year things will even out and we will know where we stand as far as revenue for the county. I would also start looking for grants, such as the COPS grant, that was available when I first started at the sheriff’s office. I have to also look at the cost of the new vehicle and equipment that would be needed for the new position.
Q: Is rural crime to vacant farmsteads and building sites increasing? If yes, how should that be addressed?
A: Hammer – At this time it is hard to determine if rural crime is increasing due to the limitations in our current method of report tracking. With the implementation of software that has been purchased but is not currently used, it would be possible to identify, track, and target high crime areas in our rural communities. With our in-car computers we have map layers; one of these layers is for vacant farms. I suggested at a deputy’s meeting that we should populate this layer as we patrol. This was met with opposition from another deputy who stated we did not have time to watch every vacant farm. I acknowledged that while that was true it would be nice at 0300 if I saw a car coming out of a farm drive and could turn on that map layer, I would know immediately if it was an occupied or vacant farmstead. This map layer is not in use as it should be. I would fully implement this tool.
A: Williams – Yes, the crimes to rural vacant farmsteads has been increasing. We have been suggesting to residents that own these to install game cameras or surveillance systems at these places. We have also tried to educate them about talking to neighbors reporting suspicious activity. We need residents to report anything that is out of the normal.
Q: In fewer than 50 words, why would you be a great county sheriff?
A: Hammer – I believe that serving my community as sheriff is not merely a job but a calling. I have the knowledge, experience, and desire to lead the Sheriff’s office. While the law must be enforced, it can be done with kindness and compassion.
A: Williams – I would be a great sheriff because I have lived in Greene County for all but five years of my life. I believe that living here and being a part of the sheriff’s office has helped me understand the demographics, operations, and the people of the county.
