KOOTENAI COUNTY, Idaho — Kootenai County voters have no shortage of options this November, with four candidates vying for the position of sheriff.
KREM 2 News spoke to all of the hopefuls, including incumbent Sheriff Robert "Bob" Norris.
Justin Nagel
Nagel is no stranger to Kootenai County – or a bid for sheriff. He ran against Norris in 2020.
Nagel says he's running again because the job of sheriff should be about representing citizens first.
"There's way too much government and not enough space for people," he said. "Just a complete lack of respect for the public from law enforcement, which has been a continuing problem, and that goes into the retention problems with Kootenai County Sheriff's Office and the staffing."
Nagel is highly critical of law enforcement in the county, calling it a 'buddy-buddy' system that's overpoliced and corrupt. He feels law enforcement has failed – for decades -- in fighting drugs like methamphetamine and fentanyl.
Kyle Woodward
At only 23 years old, Woodward also saw the need for someone to represent the people, saying he didn't see any candidates with the community's best interests in mind. The full-time college student wants more information publicly available from the sheriff's office and says he's running to bring about a fresh new perspective.
"I want to open our department up to accountability and transparency, both financially and in terms of the actions of officers," he said. "What happens when we elect people who have been career law enforcement officers is we keep perpetuating these ideas and these normals that don't work."
Dan Wilson
Wilson, who served more than a decade as a reserve police officer between Spokane and Liberty Lake, says incumbent Bob Norris is failing to provide solutions or leadership.
He's concerned about staffing shortages and retention issues among patrol, dispatch, and jail staff.
He shares his opponent's views that the sheriff should represent the people of Kootenai County and says it's time for a move away from career officers and partisan politics in the position.
"It is time that a man with not only 12 years of extremely valuable dedication law enforcement experience, who also has 25 years of proven, successful business experience comes in to bring balance back into the sheriff's office," he said.
Sheriff Bob Norris
Incumbent Sheriff Norris points to the last four years as his resume, saying crime has gone down 16% and he has engaged the community like no other.
He says the biggest problem facing the county is fentanyl but feels the current three-prong approach is working. If reelected he says the office will continue its fight against the epidemic.
"We believe in a education, rehabilitation and enforcement stance, so we get very active in our jail about rehabilitating and recommending services when these people get out of jail," he said. "We are taking fentanyl off the streets and out of our schools. We got record seizures [of fentanyl.]"
Norris admits work needs to be done staffing up the jail division; he also aims to increase volunteers in sectors like search and rescue by double.
Watch the full interviews with all four candidates below.