Sheriff candidates square off

Editor’s note: This is part of our series of stories previewing the May 8 primary election. Early voting begins April 10. All election-related stories will be posted at thecr.com and will remain active until election day.



Dwane Ford wants to remain sheriff.

Ray Newton wants to be sheriff again.

They will square off against each other in the May primary for the Republican nomination for the office they have combined to hold for the last 11-plus years.

Ford, a former conservation officer, defeated Rob Bicknell and Mitch Sutton in the 2014 Republican primary and was uncontested in the general election.

A graduate from Blackford High School, Ford attended Vincennes University, where he majored in conservation law enforcement. After college, he was hired in 1983 as a conservation officer. Before serving Jay County for 22 years, Ford was assigned to Lake and Hamilton counties.

Ford said he decided to re-run because he has enjoyed his time as sheriff over the past three-and-a-half years.

“I’ve loved everything about the job really … being able to help out the schools, the people in the community and running the jail and sheriff’s department,” Ford said. “It’s all been good.”

Newton, who currently serves as a deputy for Jay County Sheriff’s Office, was sheriff prior to Ford, but was unable to seek re-election because of term limits. In the 2006 general election, he defeated Democrat Mark Barnett and independent Brian Louth. He was uncontested for his re-election bid in 2010.

A graduate from Jay County High School, Newton served in the United States Navy from 1981 to 1985 and graduated in 1989 from Indiana Vocational Technical College with an associate’s degree in applied science. He served as a reserve for Portland Police Department from 1987 until he joined the Jay County Sheriff’s Office in 1991.

Having been sheriff from 2007 to 2014, Newton said he learned a lot during his two terms and wants to return and lead the department once again.

“It’s a job that is demanding and you spend a lot of time. You are on call basically 24 hours a day,” Newton said. “I enjoy doing the job and I believe if there weren’t term limits, I would still be sheriff because I did my job.”

One issue both candidates plan to focus on if elected involves school safety, a topic that has consumed the conversation of community members since early March after a rumored threat toward Jay County High School was posted on social media.

Ford said he plans to continue working with superintendent Jeremy Gulley to ensure that the schools remain protected. Even though it may be difficult to find the funding, he said his goal is to employ a full-time school resource officer in the near future.

Newton, who has been certified as a school resource officer since 2015, shared a similar vision, but believes more can be done in terms of collaborating with other police departments in the county.

“I see the problems that we’re having, and it kind of gives me an idea of what we can do to better make a school safe,” Newton said. “But, by having an officer out there at each school, it’s going to cost and who is going to pay for it? The school corporation or county? It’s something that is going to take time. This is not going to happen overnight.”

Drug use is another topic both candidates want to continue to focus on as the county continues to struggle with opioid addiction and overdoses. 

Ford believes the department has made progress within the last four years, and he said if re-elected, he plans on combating the opioid problem “as (they) have done in the past.” 

“We are also working with different groups in the community … that’s going to be our goal to continue,” Ford said. “Right now a lot of the mental health is part of (drug addiction). That’s what appears is going to be increasing as time goes on.”

To Newton, that’s not enough. 

Newton believes three things need to be done: more substance abuse classes and programs like DARE need to be taught in schools, arrests need to be made quicker and rehabilitation needs to be employed. 

“Once we have people incarcerated, we need to continue to do the drug programs, try to get them their GED and [help them] find a job,” Newton said. “When they leave jail what do they have? Nothing.They will go back into committing crimes and drugs. 

“I think if we do all three of those things, we can try to solve the problem. We can’t give up.”

Properly managing a budget as the next sheriff was another important topic Newton stressed. His plan is to create a budget and stick with it.

The more money saved, Newton said, the more money can be put towards employee wages.

“I just think right now we are not working within budget and I see the current sheriff’s attitude of, ‘Oh, let’s spend it and go back to the council and ask for more money,’” Newton said. 

“Well, my goal is not to go to the council and ask for more money. That’s what we have to work on.”

Even though Ford didn’t speak on the overall budget specifically, he did say he has worked on ways to save money for the county in terms of keeping up with the cost of maintaining the jail.

“The cost of jail maintenance is just like the cost of any facility that you have that has the kind of equipment that we have. There are some things that we have done like replace the lighting with LED lights to provide better lighting in certain areas outside of the building or sidewalks. We are in the process of getting quotes to re-coat the outside of the building so it’ll stay together better.” Ford said. 

“We are looking at different things to reduce the cost overall.”

Both candidates point to their experience as the reason voters should put them in office for the next four years.

“I think in the last three-and-a-half years the community has seen a lot of positive things come out of sheriff’s department. They’ve seen things that are (run) well and I’d like to keep things going in the same way for another four years,” Ford said. 

“I take pride in what I do and I expect everyone that works under the sheriff to take the same pride that the sheriff should. That way that the taxpayers know that we are doing our jobs,” Newton said. “I am familiar with the budget. I know how to run a department. If elected, I will bring all of that to the department and to the taxpayers."