English again challenging Barker for Perry sheriff

NEW LEXINGTON - In Perry County, Sheriff William Barker is seeking his seventh term as sheriff against a police chief  who has challenged him twice before for the position.

Amy English, police chief of Junction City, ran for sheriff against Barker in 2008 and 2012. She said she wasn't sure if she was going to run again this year, but people came to her and asked her to do it.

She has served as a chief for six years, and taking her experience to the county level is the next step, she said. And she believes she could serve Perry County well as sheriff.

Her two main goals would be to establish a task force specifically to combat drugs in the villages and to establish a jail in Perry County.

There are nine local police departments in Perry County, and by assigning at least one officer from each department to a task force, more work could be done in clearing drugs out of the county's small villages and municipalities, English said. The success the sheriff's office has had with the regional Central Ohio Drug Enforcement task force can be replicated with smaller agencies.

A local jail also is desperately needed, she said. Currently, everyone who is arrested in the county has to be transported to the Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail in Nelsonville, which means hours that officers could be working within their communities are spent on simply transporting prisoners.

For smaller agencies, where officers might only be part time, transportation could easily take up half, or more, of their shift, English said.

"I would really like to see a jail back in Perry County," she said.

Barker would also like to see a jail in Perry County, and if re-elected, he plans to discuss the prospect with local officials and architecture firms. The county just has a holding facility, Barker said, and a jail would save the county money in the longterm as well as add jobs to the community.

"Right now, we don't have the space (to house inmates)," he said.

Barker, who has wanted to be sheriff since he was a child, has served as sheriff of Perry County for 24 years, and he feels like he is still capable of doing the job and has more to offer the county.

In addition to a new jail, Barker also wants to increase the department's staffing by two investigators, one deputy sheriff and one dispatcher for 2017. With more staff, more reports, such as burglary and theft, can be followed up on and more cases worked, he said.

He also wants to continue the work being done with the CODE task force. Last year, 129 drug cases were investigated, leading to 89 arrests and $600,000 worth of drugs taken off the streets, Barker said.

All of these areas he wants to address, though, depend on available funding, he said.

ksnyder2@zanesvilletimesrecorder.com

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Twitter: @KL_Snyder

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