Only incumbent Orangeburg County Sheriff Leroy Ravenell and challenger Roger Heaton will square off during the Democratic primary after Darnell Johnson was removed from the primary ballot. What had been a three-person race narrowed when Johnson, like about 200 others across the state, was removed from the primary ballot for not filing required paperwork in time.
The winner of the June 12 primary will face no Republican candidate, but Johnson has said he will try to get his name on the Nov. 6 general election ballot as an independent petition candidate.
Roger Heaton Sr.
An Atlanta native, the 58-year-old Orangeburg resident began his 29-year law enforcement career with the Orangeburg Police Department. He served under three different sheriffs in various capacities during his 14 years at the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office.
Starting in 1999, Heaton began working for the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. In 2010, he was named assistant director under former SLED Director Reggie Lloyd. Heaton retired in September 2011. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy.
Heaton said he has a number of goals he would like to accomplish if he is elected. These include improving customer service and making himself available to talk to citizens, and changing the management style of the Sheriff’s Office.
“I want to completely reorganize the Sheriff’s Office in order to maximize the number of deputies on patrol, thereby reducing time of response,” Heaton said. “I will immediately create seven Community Action Councils utilizing the existing county council districts.
Phasing in agency accreditation will be coupled with a steady upgrade in the technology Heaton says the Sheriff’s Office “should be using.”
Regardless of the size of the Sheriff’s Office budget, Heaton said all expenditures must be prioritized to ensure maximum efficiency.
“If the expense doesn’t have a significant impact on our services to the citizens, it will be eliminated,” Heaton said. “When we have deputies driving emergency vehicles that well exceed their mileage and safety limits, we need to prioritize how we spend the taxpayers’ money.”
Although he concedes a shortage of personnel, Heaton feels Ravenell has come up short on several promises, most notably his “open door” policy. “Law enforcement administrators must be aware of the tasks facing them and the importance of consistency to gain the trust and respect of the community they serve,” Heaton said. “After developing a vision for the agency, a law enforcement leader must gain the cooperation of their officers to work toward that vision.
Heaton has never held political office.
Sheriff Leroy Ravenell
After winning a January 2011 special election to fill the position following the late Sheriff Larry Williams’ death, Ravenell is seeking his first four-year term in office.
The 25-year Sheriff’s Office veteran notes he is the only candidate with on-the-job experience as sheriff, having also served in past patrol, command and administrative roles.
“We have strategically worked to increase officer visibility, improve response times … and eliminate nuisance establishments,” Ravenell said. “Divisions are more effective in their efforts to work together to transfer investigative information, coordinate services and be consistent in how we address citizen calls.” Ravenell said the Sheriff’s Office is having more day-to-day contact with the public than ever before. For instance, officers attend public meetings and gain input through 10-week Citizens’ Academies.
While the current agency budget of less than $6 million needs to increase, Ravenell said his agency continues to be a good steward and maximize every dollar. It also seeks grants on every occasion.
If re-elected, Ravenell said he would like to see a full complement of staff to increase visibility and effectiveness. The Sheriff’s Office is also creating standardized policies and procedures in anticipation of seeking state accreditation.
“There are different criteria for national and state accreditation,” Ravenell said. “At this point, we are concentrating on the state accreditation. We are taking the first steps.” He said, “This is a demanding job, but the community has truly invested in it with their support. We are continuing to strive for excellence in the services that we offer to the county and we won’t rest on our laurels and think what we have done in the past 15 months is enough.”
The 47-year-old Santee resident was born in Orangeburg. Ravenell had not held political office prior to being elected last year. He has a bachelor’s degree in sociology/criminal justice from Claflin University and a master’s degree in science and criminal justice from Troy University.
He has also been a professor in criminal justice at Claflin University for three years.
Contact the writer: psarata@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5540. This story is based on an article that originally appeared in the May 20 edition of The T&D.
Source: thetandd.com
New law allows county operated traffic schools - Cincinnati.com
The law said the county attorneys can spend the additional revenue on operating expenses for their office. Billingsley said that opened up the possibility that county attorneys could spend the money on luxuries, such as Kentucky Derby tickets, by claiming they were operating expenses.
While Franzen said he hadnt determined a fee for his traffic school, Boone and Kenton counties are each going to charge $150. The county attorneys will keep $75 and pay $50 to Advent for administering the program. The law requires the remaining $25 to be deposited in a fund designed to enhance the pay of the deputy court clerks.
Franzen said the law also begins to shift the burden of paying for his office from the taxpayer to the lawbreaker.
Estill said the county attorney association never envisioned the law as a great revenue generator. He said the group lobbied for it to preserve our prosecutorial discretion.
He said county attorneys felt their constitutional right were being challenged after Kentucky Chief Justice John Minton sent them a memorandum in February suggesting it was illegal for county attorneys to offer traffic diversion programs as an alternative to state traffic school.
Minton said that was not the purpose of his memo.
There was no effort on the part of chief justice to manipulate public policy, Minton said. It was just to make sure, as court officials, we complied with the law.
While no Northern Kentucky county attorneys offered diversion programs, there was one just south of Lexington in Madison County and another near Fort Knox in Hardin County.
The prosecutor always have had the constitutional right to chose prosecution or not and to place conditions on their decisions concerning prosecution, Kenton County Attorney Garry Edmondson said. The General Assembly simply codified that concept.
Campbell District Judge Karen Thomas, who serves as the legislative chair for district judges, testified before the senate judiciary committee about the legislation.
She said the new law is good because it clarifies exactly what county attorneys can do. While the law is vague on details, she said it shined a light on the practice that some county attorneys had of offering traffic safety training.
I have every belief county attorneys will live by the letter of law, Thomas said in reference to Billingsleys concerns.
Source: news.cincinnati.com
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