Cowley County Undersheriff Don Read filed this morning for election as sheriff in the November general election. Sheriff Bob Odell will complete his four-year term but will not seek re-election, according to Read.
The two men have had several conversations about the decisions during recent months, he said.
“He encouraged me to file for the office of Cowley County sheriff and said I would have his full support and endorsement,” Read said. “He does intend to fulfill his elected obligation and complete his full term in office as sheriff of Cowley County.”
Jail administrator Steve Roberts would serve as Read’s undersheriff. Read and Roberts began working in the sheriff’s office on the same day 21 years ago.
The sheriff will administer a $2.3 million budget in 2008 and oversee 41 full-time and 11 part-time employees. The jail population currently stands at 74 but the new jail under construction could house 213 inmates.
Read said he has worked hard to prepare himself for the job and responsibilities that go with it. “While working for the citizens of Cowley County, I worked my way through the ranks from sheriff’s patrol officer to my present position as undersheriff.
“Over the past 15 years, I have earned four college degrees including an M.B.A. and graduated from the FBI National Academy in 2006,” he said.
Read has also completed over 200 hours of academy and in-service training, served as a criminal justice and law enforcement instructor at the agency, college and national level.
He was in Bosnia from June 1998 to June 1999 where he trained Serbian police officers The war between the three ethnic groups had ended by then and Read was hired by Dyncorp, a company that contracted with the U.S. Department of State to provide police officers to the United Nations. Read received two United Nations medals for service for his work there.
Law enforcement today faces a continuing drug and alcohol problem among our youth, he said. Peer pressure, availability, and societal issues all contribute to the alcohol and drug abuse by young people.
“If resources were available, I would like to address more time and more officers to those particular problems,” Read said. “I would like to put somebody in county schools on a rotating basis – like a resource officer. We couldn’t afford an officer in every school but maybe they could rotate different schools on different days and build relationships with students and improve communications, so that the kids could feel like if they have a problem they could go and talk to the officer who may be in the school.”
The sheriff’s office and the Arkansas City and Winfield police departments each provide one officer to serve on the county’s drug task force. Both Read and Roberts have served on the task force.
“The Cowley County Sheriff’s Office is one of the most respected law enforcement agencies in Kansas. We have some of the very best men and women working at the ….sheriff’s office” he said. “I was once told that any administrator is only as good as the people that surround them. They are the ones actually doing the work in the field and on the street. Those people are the strength and real backbone of any organization and it is no different at the Cowley County Sheriff’s Office.”
Read said – with his wife’s support – he is prepared to meet the demands and challenges that accompany the sheriff’s job. his wife, Mary, was a court services officer until her recent appointment as deputy director of Cowley County Community Corrections.
“I am excited about the future of Cowley County, the citizens of Cowley County, and the Cowley County Sheriff’s Office, and I am confident that I am ready for the responsibility, demands and duty required by the office of sheriff,” he said.
