Sheriff’s race turning nasty in final week

Two veterans and one newcomer are vying to win the Republican nomination for Whitley County Sheriff in a political campaign that has quickly evolved into one of the county’s nastiest.
Incumbent Lawrence Hodge said he ran for the office four years ago to bolster what he felt like was a lagging department.
“We didn’t have a Sheriff’s Department,” Hodge said. “That’s just basically the facts. It was non-existent. I thought we deserved better than that.”
Hodge has taken an office that had just four road deputies in 2002 and ballooned that number to 11. He’s instituted 24-hour patrols in the county, and used grant money to increase the department’s fleet of cruisers and improve equipment. He counts as one of his many accomplishments in office as regular security checks of county cemeteries and churches. The Sheriff’s Department is now computerized and even has an Internet web site. He said most of the improvements he’s made have been done with the help of state and federal grant money and that the department has never been out-of-bounds budgetarily.
“I just don’t want to see it revert back.”
Hodge wastes no time in blasting the man he perceives as his primary opponent in the race, 69-year-old H.D. Moses. Moses served as the county’s Sheriff for 17 years, winning four straight terms, before retiring in 1998. During his political career, he was elected Jailer and was Williamsburg Police Chief for 8 years.
Moses’ entry into the race brought a surprising twist. A political force in the county, the former Sheriff smashed vote total records in previous runs for the office and has never been defeated in an election bid.
In one of his many criticisms, Hodge claims Moses is running only to reinstate former Sheriff Ancil Carter in the department – a rumor that has gained some traction countywide. Hodge beat Carter in a 2001 election primary, and later won the general election to become Sheriff. It was his second attempt at the office.
Moses denies the rumor and said Hodge has “hired” people to spread it among voters.
“I just really miss it,” Moses said of being Sheriff. “This department has gone to Hell and I’d like to get it back to being a good Sheriff’s Department again.”
“They call him lying Lawrence. It’s a fact he’s a big liar. He’s come up with a lot of mudslinging that isn’t true … there’s nothing to that [rumor]. Ancil’s not going to have anything to do with this department.”
Moses says that, on the campaign trail, voters are telling him they want a change. He also claims some of Hodge’s deputies use strong-arm tactics and promises to purge the department of what he considers troublesome elements, if elected.
“I want to be honest with the people,” Moses said. “I want to get out there and protect the people. People are not pleased with him. When you’ve got men out there beating people up and mistreating people, that’s not good.”
Hodge denies that his deputies use unnecessary force and said he’s never received a written complaint against any of his deputies and no lawsuits have been filed.
A wild card in the race, 53-year-old Evelyn McCullah, said she’s reluctant to engage in the sort of rough-and-tumble mudslinging typical of this campaign. For the past eight and a half years, she’s managed the Williamsburg division of the Whitley County Attorney’s office. She said in that time, she’s had close contact with people affected by law enforcement and knows how to better serve the county.
“I honestly believe I can do a better job than has been done in the past,” McCullah said. “Everybody is ready for a change. Everybody says they know what they have now and they want a total change. Well, I’m quite a change.”
McCullah said being a woman and running for an office traditionally relegated to men has had its advantages and disadvantages.
“I honestly haven’t run into as many people that were opposed to a woman as I thought I would,” she said. “I think people are OK with the idea of having a woman as a Sheriff.”
McCullah said she’d like to start county neighborhood watch programs and institute a “real crackdown” on the illegal sale and use of prescriptions drugs.
“It’s not just meth, although that’s a real problem,” McCullah said. “It’s the prescription stuff that I think is the biggest issue. We need to do something about the pill pushers selling Oxycontin and stuff like that to our young people.”
McCullah said too much focus is simply placed on arresting and incarcerating people addicted to drugs with little effect. Instead, she proposes treatment programs to help wean people off drugs.
“There’s not a lot of programs out there that help people addicted to drugs,” she said. “It’s not really doing a lot of good to put people in jail because they are using drugs. That’s not going to solve anything.”
If elected, she said she fully intends to “be out on the road” when needed, and will not simply be an administrator.
Hodge points to drug arrests, many of which he’s been personally responsible for, as a cornerstone of his tenure as Sheriff. He said he is involved in all of the department’s undercover narcotics work and has been aggressive in attempting to eradicate methamphetamine labs in the county. If reelected, he said he would push hard to get a full-time drug detective for the office and a special K-9 drug dog.
And while touting his own record on drugs, Hodge also swipes at Moses’ past policing efforts, which he says were inadequate.
“I’ve got the records. He wouldn’t even allow them boys [deputies] to work an accident,” Hodge said. “I’ve got deputies that was under him. They will tell you that. They wasn’t even allowed to work, period.”
But Moses claims Hodge’s accusations are dishonest.
In fact, both of Hodge’s opponents claim the current Sheriff’s department is aggressive in arresting suspected drug dealers, but poor in following up those cases in court.
In recent political advertising, Moses points to 16 methamphetamine cases, ranging from 2003 to the present, dismissed due to what he says is a lack of prosecution during Hodge’s tenure.
“If you bust a dope dealer, and don’t prosecute him, you haven’t gained anything,” Moses said. “I know one man has been arrested three times and he’s never been prosecuted. If you don’t follow through, there’s no use being out there and messing with them.”
Similarly, McCullah was critical of the current Sheriff Department’s court record.
“Right now the conviction rate is very, very low,” she said. “I don’t believe the cases are being pursued to get convictions. I believe if you have a Sheriff’s Department that will pursue the cases to the end and make sure there are convictions, people will understand they can’t get away with this … they can’t just make meth or sell pills without some sort of penalty.”
McCullah said many times arrests are made, but complaining witnesses never show up in court or the case is never taken to the grand jury for an indictment.
“The courts can’t convict without evidence and a complaining witness,” McCullah said. “They aren’t following up as much as they should to get these convictions.”
Hodge defends his department and says he can’t control how the court system treats the suspects he arrests. He claims many of his officers never receive subpoenas for hearings, and that many cases are worked out in “back room” deals.
“H.D. Moses has never made a felony arrest … never initiated a bust. He wouldn’t know how the court system works anyway,” Hodge said. “We prosecute everything we can. We’ve gotten back more stolen stuff than anyone. At least we do arrest them.”
Despite the aggressive campaigning, all three say they feel good about their chances next Tuesday when voters give their final verdict.