She faced no challenger in the primary election conducted by mail using absentee ballots in April due to the coronavirus pandemic.
On the other side of the ticket, Garman, a Democrat, defeated Mike Varner, his party challenger, in the primary election.
The Clark County Sheriff is in charge of nearly 200 county employees who are represented by four unions. Since 2008, the salary of the sheriff has been set at $84,523, according to the county auditor’s office.
The position oversees a roughly $15 million general-fund budget — the largest general fund budget in the county.
Sheriff Deborah Burchett
Burchett attended the Ohio Peace Officers Academy, holds an associate degree in Criminal Justice from Clark State Community College and a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice Administration from Columbia-Southern University.
She has 38-years of law enforcement experience, including 29 years as a Clark County deputy, where she was the first female sergeant in charge of the investigation division.
Prior to becoming sheriff in 2016, she was a police officer in South Vienna.
Burchett said she made the decision to run for reelection because she is “focused on helping and protecting others."
“In 2016, I ran for sheriff because I recognized that changes were needed. Community policing has changed and is more important than ever. Significant, positive changes are bringing the sheriff’s office into the 21st century but there is more to be done,” Burchett said.
Burchett said she has made a number of improvements to the sheriff’s office since being elected, including extending the prisoner work program for female inmates, adding a deputy position who provides follow-up services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, strangulation and stalking and adding six new deputy positions between road patrol and school districts.
“All of these were done without costing taxpayer’s more money,” Burchett said. “In the last 3½ years, I have proven to be a good steward of taxpayer money and I will continue to do so.”
Instead of asking for the additional funding outside of their yearly budget from the Board of Clark County Commissioners, Burchett said she hired a grant writer “who has been able to apply for competitive grants and get the sheriff’s office over $2 million in federal and state grants to purchase equipment, add valuable programs and salaries.”
If re-elected, Burchett said she wants to expand on improvements already made at the office, as well as implement new ones.
“I will continue to work hard to make the Sheriff’s Office a leading law enforcement agency that uses efficient, up-to-date equipment and services. My administration and I will continue to work to improve community-police relations,” Burchett said.
Specific goals she plans to focus on for the future include to “increase the number of corrections officers in the jail, obtain up-to-date equipment and technology that provides for the city and the county to be on the same communication system, working with the community to reduce crime and achieve law enforcement certification through the Ohio Collaborative/Community Police Advisory Board.”
Burchett said she believes two of the most important issues in the sheriff’s race are safety and “police reform.”
“Community members want to be treated fairly. Law enforcement agencies are expected to have policies and procedures to ensure transparency and accountability,” Burchett said. “Everyone in our community wants to feel safe and protected.”
As a woman in a “primarily male-dominant profession,” Burchett said she has experienced “many struggles that have helped me to become more open and understanding of others."
“I’m not a polished politician and do not want to be. I come from a family of diverse backgrounds and can relate to hardship. I have worked hard to get to the place I am today,” Burchett said. “I am open to listening to others, I want to know what is working and what is not working so improvements can be made as needed."
Russell Garman
Garman is a graduate of Kenton Ridge High School and holds an associate degree in Criminal Justice from Clark State Community College. He has 40 years of law enforcement experience — 36 of which were served at the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.
He has served as Union President of the Deputies Association, served on the Montgomery County RANGE Task Force Forfeit Asset Board and Southern Ohio Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team with the U.S. Marshals Service. In 2011, he received Ohio’s Distinguished Law Enforcement Valor Award from then-Attorney General Mike DeWine.
“In my personal life, (my greatest accomplishment), would be as a husband to my wife for 34 years and raising two sons who have both graduated from college and have become good and successful men,” Garman said.
Currently, he works part-time as a lieutenant at the German Twp. Police Department.
Garman said he’s running for sheriff because he wants the opportunity “to bring my leadership skills and depth of law enforcement experience to the job.”
“I will work hard to recruit, train and retain quality law enforcement personnel,” Garman said. “I care about each and every citizen in our community.”
Garman said he has six “visions” for the sheriff’s office. The are to: ensure the safety of citizens, schools and business, attract train and retain quality law enforcement officers, bring improved fiscal responsibility to the sheriff’s office, establish better communications with the public and the media, implement a Clark County Jail Advisory Board and pursue grants and access to programs provided by state and federal agencies.
“I believe an important issue with voters is to feel safe and secure in their community. I believe voters want equality, with fair and unbiased treatment for all. I believe voters want guidelines in regards to law enforcement’s use of force with citizen input on the guidelines. I believe voters want efficient use of taxpayer dollars,” Garman said.
If elected, Garman said he would begin an “open-door policy on day one.”
“I would meet with deputies to listen to their concerns and needs. I would collaborate with other law enforcement agencies and begin addressing community leaders and residents law enforcement concerns,” Garman said.
Garman said he believes good leaders “lead by example."
“I want to lead by instilling a professional, honest and fair approach not only to the members of the (sheriff’s office) but to all citizens of Clark County. All interactions with the public should be fair, unbiased and treated with respect," Garman said. “I will make sure all deputies receive the proper training and tools needed to do their jobs safely and most efficiently.”
Garman said he does not want to run a negative campaign, however, when asked about whether or not he had any criticisms of his opponent, he pointed to several incidents he believes Burchett “mishandled.”
“Sheriff Burchett handled the shooting of the news photographer in New Carlisle by one of her deputies in an unprofessional and inappropriate manner,” Garman said.
Andrew Grimm, a former photographer for the New Carlisle News, was shot by Deputy Jake Shaw in 2018 on Main Street in New Carlisle while preparing to take photos of the deputy at a traffic stop. Shaw was cleared by a Clark County Grand Jury of any criminal actions.
Garman also brought up an investigation from 2018, which was conducted by the Preble County and Darke County Sheriff’s Office, that found a former Clark County Chief Deputy helped two Clark County deputies cheat on a test for open detective positions at the sheriff’s office.
“She has not been forthcoming in keeping the public informed of information when crimes and internal incidents occurred,” Garman said. “The Clark County Sheriff’s Office is a public office, and things should not be hidden from the public.”
Burchett said she has no regrets about anything she has done while in office.
“Each of us has made mistakes, it is how you handle them that matters. Personally, when I make a mistake, I try to learn from it and use it to re-group,” Burchett said. “I do not want mistakes to define me. I try to grow from them and work even harder.”
As for Garman, Burchett said the two have similar backgrounds and “similar amounts of time served in law enforcement.”
“He served as an administrator at the Clark County Sheriff’s Office under the previous administration which had been in operation since 1987,” Burchett said. “Programs and practices needed changed during that time but did not.”
Burchett did not name specific programs or practices.
Bio boxes:
Deborah Burchett
Age: 68
Education: Ohio Peace Officers Academy; associate degree in Criminal Justice from Clark State Community College; bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice Administration from Columbia-Southern University
Current employment: Clark County Sheriff
Past employment: Deputy, Clark County Sheriff’s Office; Officer, South Vienna Police Department
Candidate website: re-electsheriffburchett.org/
Russell Garman
Age: 60
Education: Associate degree in Criminal Justice from Clark State Community College; specialized law enforcement training
Current employment: Lieutenant, German Township Police Department
Past employment: Major, Clark County Sheriff’s Office
How to vote
Oct. 5: Voter registration deadline. Ohioans can register online or until 9 p.m. at their county board of elections office
Online: Ohio Secretary of State’s office: olvr.ohiosos.gov
Clark County Board of Elections: 3130 E. Main St. (formerly E. National Rd.) Springfield, OH 45505
Champaign County Board of Elections: 1512 South U.S. Hwy 68, Suite L100 Urbana, OH 43078
Oct. 6: Absentee ballots scheduled to begin being mailed to voters
Early voting begins
Early voting locations:
Clark County: (New location) Turner Studio Theatre at the Clark State Performing Arts Center, 300 South Fountain Ave., Springfield
Champaign County: 1512 South U.S. Hwy 68, Suite L100 Urbana, OH 43078
Early in-person voting hours for October
Oct. 6-9: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Oct. 12-16: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Oct. 19-23: 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Oct. 24: 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Oct. 25: 1 p.m. - 5 p.m.
Oct. 26-30: 8 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Oct. 31: 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Early in-person voting hours for November
Nov. 1: 1 p.m. - 5 p.m.
Nov. 2: 8 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Election Day
Nov. 3: Election Day. Polls open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Voters are able to drop off absentee ballot at their county board of elections office until 7:30 p.m.
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