BELLE — Republican candidates in the Maries County Sheriff race were among the speakers at the Maries County Republican Central Committee’s annual Lincoln Day Banquet on Feb. 29 at the American Realty Building in Belle.

Maries County Republican Party Chairman Andrew Barr invited sheriff candidate Mark Morgan to deliver an address.

Morgan began by recognizing members of the party committee for the work they do for events such as Lincoln Day and the fairs.

“They’ve been out promoting the party,” he said. “They’ve been out promoting our values.”

Morgan works as a sergeant and K-9 handler with the Belle Police Department. He said he began working in security when he was 17 years old. He later joined the United States Army and did three tours in Iraq. Before he retired from the Army, he began a career in law enforcement with the Crocker Police Department, the Vienna Police Department and several years with the Maries County Sheriff’s Office. He said his time working in the sheriff’s office gave him “a lot of insight of how much better the office could be managed to benefit the whole community.”

“I never thought I’d be here today talking to anyone about running for any office,” Morgan said. “I’ve never considered myself to be a political person. Sometimes things happen that just make a person question their path in life.”

Morgan said he has questioned his path in life after seeing things happening in the news.

“Many people watch the news, and they see the abuse of the legal system playing out in our current presidential election,” he said. “Well, I’m here to tell you that the contagion of abuse of authority is not only happening in our national arena in media, it’s also happening here.”

Morgan said the county must choose the right person as sheriff because that person is the chief law enforcement officer in the county. The sheriff must be someone who completely respects the Constitution and wants to lead to protect the people of the county and not for personal gain.

At Southwest Virginia Community College, Morgan went through the Administration of Justice program. During his speech, he said he felt like the justice system had become more of a legal system, and as sheriff, he would like to bring more justice to the system.

“I will not stand by or stand for incomplete or biased investigations to become criminal cases for nothing more than media attention, as we’ve been seeing play out in both our national and local media,” Morgan said.

Morgan recalled his Army unit’s motto: “One team, one fight.” He said he wanted to bring that motto to Maries County.

“I want to unite our law enforcement here in Maries County into one team, one fight, where we work together, we train together and we’re overall a team to better serve our community,” he said.

Morgan ended his speech with several pledges about how he would operate as sheriff.

“I pledge to be a working sheriff, actually present, leading from the front and working with all of our law enforcement agencies,” he said. “As sheriff, I’ll bring honesty, integrity and accountability to the office. I’ll be a mindful manager of taxpayer money I’m entrusted with, and I’ll always encourage training over toys because our people are always going to be our best assets. I will continue to protect and serve the people of Maries County, continue to remember my oath to uphold the Constitution and to be the sheriff that Maries County deserves.”

The next speaker was sheriff candidate Scott John. He is the chief deputy for the Maries County Sheriff’s Office, where he has worked for 11 years. He started as a chaplain but saw a need for local people to become involved in law enforcement. Unlike many law enforcement officers, he went to the academy later in life and joined the sheriff’s office after his graduation.

Before becoming a deputy, John grew up in Vichy and now lives in his childhood home. The only time he lived outside of Maries County as an adult was when he served with the U.S. Navy. He acknowledged his wife of 36 years, Bonnie, who is a teacher in St. James.

“We’re invested in the community,” John said. “We love kids. And I believe a sheriff should be involved in his community and at work every day.”

John said he believes a sheriff should also be involved in the politics of the community. Members of the state government would see him more often if he gets elected sheriff. He believes there is legislation needed to help law enforcement.

One form of reform that John said could aid law enforcement is truth in sentencing laws to prevent the early release of convicted offenders.

“We see a lot of people being sentenced to prison sentences that our judges sent to prison,” he said. “Through no fault of their own, they’re released before their term is up and we see recidivism. And it costs the taxpayers money and investigations and citizens are victimized through property damage and having your property stolen. I believe that the job of the sheriff is to protect that.”

John said he believes a sheriff’s number one goal is to serve the people as the top law enforcement official in the county.

“That is not just arresting people,” he said. “It’s not just solving victim crimes. It’s preventing them and getting involved with our youth in the schools and getting involved in mentoring programs and trying to stop the generational drug abuse and domestic abuse that we see in some families. And it’s not just Maries County that sees this. This is a problem that we have all throughout the Midwest and throughout the country.”

John said he believes a sheriff should serve the community as a community leader and not just the leader of the office.

“Somebody that can be looked up to and respected based on how they live their life,” he said. “And it’s a glass house. We’ll make mistakes. You own them, you move on and you invest.”

John shared some insight into the sheriff’s office’s current operations. He said it is doing better financially than it has ever been. At the end of 2023, the office had $219,000 with all bills paid. Only one of the office’s 11 vehicles has driven more than 100,000 miles, and there is a plan in place to rotate vehicles to keep them fresh and under warranty.

“There’s a lot of things that are in motion in the sheriff’s office that’s great for the county right now,” John said.

One of the things John mentioned specifically is a nearly 3-acre property that the county recently purchased near the intersection of Highway 28 and Route Z. The county intends to use the land for sheriff’s office training and storage. Construction at the site will begin soon.

“I believe that we do not spend enough time training, and training is expensive,” John said. “If you have your own property and your own place to do it then you can minimize your expenses, you can do it more frequently and have access to it when you need it.”

John said he would like to talk to everyone about other plans at future town hall meetings. In addition to the party-hosted discussions with sheriff candidates, John plans to host his own community meetings. The first was in Vichy last Saturday. Another will follow on March 23 in Belle and April 13 in Vienna.

“I plan on making it to some other areas of the county where I’m going to talk about the condition of the sheriff’s office, what I see for the challenges for the next sheriff to be, and what my plan is to address those challenges and then to open it up for questions and answers,” he said.

Timothy “T.J.” Halle, the other Republican candidate who has filed for sheriff, did not attend the Lincoln Day dinner.