The two candidates vying to be appointed as San Miguel County sheriff shared their thoughts on a number of topics during interviews with the San Miguel Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
San Miguel County Undersheriff Dan Covault and San Miguel County Sheriff Operations Sgt. Lane Masters are looking to be appointed to the position, which will be left vacant when current Sheriff Bill Masters steps down in June. The appointed sheriff will serve the remainder of Sheriff Masters\u2019 term, which is up in 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The commissioners interviewed each candidate separately, with 12 questions ranging from budgeting and recruitment to immigration and mental health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When asked about the difference between law enforcement and peacekeeping, Covault said if the sheriff\u2019s office works toward peacekeeping, it\u2019s less likely they\u2019ll need to enforce laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHowever, we live in a dynamic environment where even our very best efforts may not end in a peaceful resolution, and those enforcement actions might have to take place. But first and foremost, we need to be those peacekeepers,\u201d Covault said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Masters said he doesn\u2019t like the term \u201claw enforcement,\u201d adopting a popular phrase from his father, Sheriff Bill Masters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor one, it\u2019s kind of ridiculous, there are hundreds of thousands of laws \u2013 between state, federal, local, county \u2013 to enforce. I also don\u2019t like the term itself because it has the word \u2018force\u2019 in it. The term \u2018peace officer,\u2019 I think, is much more accomplishable (than enforcing all of the laws), and also more telling to the mission of the role is. We\u2019re there to promote public peace. We\u2019re there to protect people,\u201d Masters said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Commissioners asked what the candidates see as the biggest challenge facing the community when it comes to public safety and crime prevention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Covault said it\u2019s a hard one to answer. He noted today might be one issue, tomorrow might be another. He said it\u2019s not always about preventing crime, but keeping it from happening in San Miguel County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThrough proactive policing, public presence, community relations, outreach programs, successful investigations, successful prosecutions, we make it a very uncomfortable place for a criminal to want to come and do bad things. I can\u2019t control what happens on the Front Range, but I can make an impact here. If I can make a bad guy want to go somewhere else, we\u2019ve accomplished that goal. We\u2019re not necessarily preventing crime, but we\u2019re trying to deter it from happening in our community,\u201d Covault said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Masters believes the biggest issue is bond reform. He said current bond regulations take away the court\u2019s ability to set bond that\u2019s appropriate to the person and the crime. He said he hopes and believes shifts in bond will come; in the meantime, it\u2019s important to have a sheriff with a plan to mitigate issues in the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI do have a plan. It\u2019s more cops. I know this is a really novel idea, it sounds simple, but I have metrics to support that. If criminals are not going to be held in jail until their trial, where they could potentially wind up in prison, or be provided by the court the avenues to recover from whatever it is that\u2019s causing them to commit crime, then we need to have more cops out in the street. We need more people out there to protect the community, because these people are out there,\u201d Masters said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When it comes to immigration, both Masters and Covault shared their support of the immigrant community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI worry about our undocumented folks because they\u2019re afraid right now,” Masters said. “I think they have every right to be afraid, unfortunately I think they are correct to be afraid. We are seeing some things going on right now that I cannot believe are occurring in the United States. I am seeing due process be taken away for some people, which I think is abhorrent. We are literally seeing a Gulag propped up in El Salvador, where people who are not from El Salvador are being sent without due process. That is a good reason to be afraid. All Americans should be afraid, regardless of immigration status. So, I think because of that, they\u2019re inherently more marginalized. They\u2019re less likely to call us. They\u2019re less likely to trust us.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think the sheriff\u2019s office should stand behind our immigrants as they would any other citizen,” said Covault. “I believe that they should be able to feel free to come to us with their problems, and not worry about being rounded up and deported. That being said, we also have an obligation to protect them, as any other citizen, and if a criminal element from a foreign country wants to come here and commit crimes, that\u2019s going to be on them. If you\u2019re a citizen of the United States and you commit crimes you go to prison. If you\u2019re a criminal from a foreign land and you come here and commit crimes, maybe you should go home \u2013 after you go to prison here \u2013 because I don\u2019t like the criminal element. I do like our immigrant population.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Commissioner Lance Waring asked the next question about mental health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s our understanding the current sheriff has directed patrol not to respond to mental health crisis, including active suicide. What\u2019s your understanding and opinion of these policies, and how, if at all, would you change it if you became sheriff?\u201d asked Waring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Covault said with crisis response and intervention training, he believes there\u2019s room for deputies to step in during mental health situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIs there going to be a situation where we say \u2018no this is not tactically safe for anyone and we need to hold back and not do anything\u2019? Yes, there could be that situation. But more often than not, I think with our training we can be that upfront figure. We can secure a scene. We can get mental health there,\u201d Covault said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Masters had a different take.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCops are not mental health professionals. We\u2019re probably not smart enough to be mental health professionals. I wish I was a little bit more emotionally intelligent, my wife would probably really appreciate that. And it\u2019s not always an improvement to have a cop in a situation,\u201d Masters said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Addressing the elephant in the room, the candidates responded to a question about managing a department with family members working together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Masters acknowledged he\u2019s the current sheriff\u2019s son, noting that for a number of years, he intentionally didn\u2019t work for San Miguel County Sheriff to avoid being the \u201cboss\u2019s kid.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe also has three other children, and I don\u2019t believe they\u2019re interviewing for this position and the reason is because they\u2019re not qualified to. I am. So how am I going to manage nepotism? I\u2019m going to do my job. I\u2019m going to be humble, and be truthful with people and show them I belong to be here, not because of what my last name is, or because I kind of look like that old guy whose name is on the side of a building,\u201d Masters said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, the commissioners asked the candidates about their views on concerns in the community that the federal government may try to restrict rights to assemble, speak and peacefully protest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf federal statute changes in this regard, how will you enforce the administration\u2019s limits or prohibitions?\u201d asked Commissioner Galena Gleason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Covault said the sheriff\u2019s office should support the community in sharing their opinions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have the right to peacefully assemble. We have the right to have our voices heard, no matter what side of the fence you\u2019re on. I believe the sheriff\u2019s office should assist those people that want to peacefully assemble and want to have their voices heard, make sure they can do so safely,\u201d Covault said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Masters noted a sheriff has a lot of authority. He said it\u2019s the sheriff\u2019s job to use that authority to reflect the beliefs of the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am not going to let anyone tell me what to do. You might not like that about me. The federal government might not like that about me. But I\u2019m going to do what I believe is right for our community \u2013 the community that raised me \u2013 so that it can continue to be a good place for everybody to live,\u201d Masters said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDoes that mean you\u2019re not going to do what we tell you to do?\u201d asked Commissioner Anne Brown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf I don\u2019t agree with it, yeah,\u201d Masters said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The San Miguel Board of County Commissioners plans to make a decision on who will be appointed as sheriff on Wednesday, April 30.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The two candidates vying to be appointed as San Miguel County sheriff shared their thoughts on a number of topics during interviews with the San Miguel Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
San Miguel County Undersheriff Dan Covault and San Miguel County Sheriff Operations Sgt. Lane Masters are looking to be appointed to the position, which will be left vacant when current Sheriff Bill Masters steps down in June. The appointed sheriff will serve the remainder of Sheriff Masters\u2019 term, which is up in 2026.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":4080,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-category":[514,542],"news-tag":[300,704,784,631,406,743,477],"class_list":["post-4077","news","type-news","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-category-featured-stories","news-category-rural-news","news-tag-colorado","news-tag-koto-news","news-tag-law-enforcement","news-tag-mountain-village","news-tag-norwood","news-tag-san-miguel-county-sheriff","news-tag-telluride"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n