Duane Rhodes Interview

Challenger Duane Rhodes is running for Lincoln County sheriff.

Rhodes, 54, has worked with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office for 15 years. He began as a reserve and worked as a deputy in both Eureka and Libby. For the last five years, he has worked on sex crimes.

Rhodes has two adult daughters who live in Libby.

What do you think the biggest public safety concern is in Lincoln County?

Biggest public safety concern, I would say drugs at this point. I would say we have a drug problem and that needs to be addressed.

Why does that jump out at you as being the biggest concern?

Because of repeat offenders. They are the same names, you guys publish the paper, it is the same names continually and something needs to be done with that. Whether there is a prosecution issue, we need to do something with this. I feel that is probably the biggest safety concern.

Do you think that it is a prosecution issue? What would you like to see change?

I would like to see a better relationship with the prosecutors. I think as a sheriff there should be regular meetings with the county attorneys going over the cases. Making sure that we are doing our part so that the loopholes are shut. That if there are mistakes on our part then they need to be fixed. I think that it needs to be a team effort, to work together to deal with that.

Do you think that the sheriff’s office does it’s part currently to allow the full effect of the law to be held in Lincoln County?

I think that the sheriff’s office, as far as our guys go, our guys do a good job. I hate to blame the prosecution, but I think that there is different agendas at different times and I think that, again, it is easy to pass the buck and drop a case when a little communication could have been relayed and guys got together. If this case is lacking something don’t just drop it. Try to work together and make it a good case.

You are talking about different agendas at times. Do you think that there are conflicting agendas between the sheriff’s office at times and the prosecuting side?

Maybe not so much agendas. Agenda is maybe the wrong word. Maybe a difference of opinions on how things should be run. Everybody has got their own opinion on whatever you want to talk about. I think that they basically need to be on the same page.

A lot of people were upset about the plea deal in the Josh Peterson case. A lot of people thought it should be attempted deliberate homicide. What is your reaction to people’s frustration with a sense of a continuing pattern of pleading down and what they feel is not the full punishment that some people deserve?

I understand their frustration. We have that frustration. We work hard to put a case together and it goes up there and they do something like that and plead it down. It is hard to understand. This whole game, not belittling it when I say game, but I mean it is to a point a game, and they have their own thought process. I get that the jails are full. I understand all of that, but some of these people need to be dealt with and they don’t. Again, the people deserve something better than that. If you attempt to kill somebody and you are just being slapped on the wrist, what kind of message does that send? It doesn’t send a very good message right there. I understand the people’s frustration and it is part of our frustration too. We work hard on these cases and we don’t feel that justice is being served either.

How do you change that?

Again, I believe that that is a better working relationship with the prosecutors. Knowing that we need to do something and be involved in the cases. I think that there is a lack in the county attorneys working with individual officers. They are not being told what is going on and these deals are being done basically behind closed doors. I don’t think that is right.

What differentiates you from the other candidates that are running for sheriff?

I think that my willingness to actually be a working sheriff. To put in the time on the street. To continue to do the job and not just be an administrator. I plan on working on the street doing my normal stuff and not just sitting behind a desk.

What is your biggest criticism of the current administration?

I would say the mismanagement in the sheriff’s office. People in positions that shouldn’t be there. That is where I am at.

Tell me why you are running for sheriff?

I am running for sheriff because I believe that the people in this county need a working sheriff. They need somebody that is going to be there all of the time, that devotes his time to the sheriff’s office and to the people.

What is a sheriff? What does that guy do?

A sheriff should be a leader. He should be leading the guys. He should be standing up for his guys. He should be going to the county attorney when there are problems. Fixing these cases. He should be someone that the department looks up to. He brings the department together. Everybody works together for the same goal. Protecting the citizens of this county.

Tell me about your law enforcement background.

I have been with Lincoln County Sheriff’s for probably 15 years. I started as a reserve. I was a deputy in Eureka. I was a deputy in Libby. I worked as a K-9 handler. I worked as a drug detective. Currently I work sex crimes. I have been doing that the last five years. I really enjoy that. That is what I like to do.

What do you enjoy about that?

Helping the kids. It kind of tears at you to see some of these kids. When you take a pedophile, sex offender and put him into prison, that is a good feeling. That is a very good feeling and I enjoy that.

You have a diverse background through the different places that you have been as you have gone up the ranks. What are the different things that you have learned from the different spots over the years?

Basically what I learned is how to deal with people. How to communicate with people. Not everybody is a bad guy. You need to talk to everybody. Even the bad guys. There is kind of a saying that there is a time and a place to be a jerk, but it is not every time and it is not every place. I think that you need to be able to communicate with the people. Even if they end up getting a ticket, it is not the end of the world. They don’t need to feel belittled at the end. That is probably the biggest thing that you face is dealing with the people.

I think you have alluded to this in your previous answers, but tell me about what kind of commitment you would be willing to make to the people of Lincoln County if you were to be the sheriff?

One hundred percent commitment. To be there. Devote my time to the department. Devote my time to the organizations that are around here. We have got great organizations here to volunteer in. To be a part of that. That is what I look forward to.

What would be your first initiative if you were to be elected into office?

Bringing the department together. Making the department better.

How do you do that?

Bringing the department together by having a leader. Somebody that they can look up to that will make the right decisions for them and take care of them. Putting people in the right positions. That is were I would be at.

I was interested in discussing how big an issue domestic abuse is in this area. It often times seems to be that drugs and domestic abuse are related.

Absolutely. In fact we just had one this morning. It will come out later in the wash, but that goes back to the drugs and the prosecution. It is all involved in that. I can’t mention names or anything like that, but one of them had a pile of meth with him before. And he is on the street. Now you have a domestic, you have an assault because it is over the drugs. Same players. The revolving door. That needs to stop.

Sheriff Bowe has been pretty open and public about potentially shifting Troy Area Dispatch into Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office. We were wondering what you thought of their proposal? If you had any other ideas or if you were in support of his ideas?

I understand the moving the dispatch as far as a financial issue. I get that part. Everybody looks at the dollar and that seems to be the bottom line. I hate to see Troy lose a dispatch. To have a dispatch center that is manned for 24 hours for that child that is lost and has no where to go. For that woman that gets beat in the middle of the night. Where do they go from there in town? Somewhere to go. You’ve lost that out of the community.

I just think that there are better ways to deal with that. I understand that there are budget crunches and I get that part. Which is more important? A pot hole in the road, fixing roads, or keeping your public safe and having a place for them to go. As a community in Troy, I wouldn’t want to lose my dispatch. That is the way I would feel. It would be like taking Eureka’s. There was talk years ago of doing that with Eureka. I don’t know how that would work. As a citizen in that community I wouldn’t want it to go. I just think that there has got to be other ways of dealing with that.

You would support alternative solutions that would maintain the dispatch in Troy?

Yes. I would. There are other avenues to go.

It has been an interesting topic. A lot of people have differing opinions.

It has. You get the money avenue. The 911 money coming to Libby. You understand all of that but, again, you take something away from Troy. I don’t believe that is the right way to go. There has got to be another way and that is what I would be looking into.

Why should people vote for you?

Because I am fair, honest, I am a hard worker and I would be working for the people of this county.