Samaniego seeking third term as sheriff

Shelby County Sheriff John Samaniego said he planned to be a career cop, and never intended to run for office. Now in his second term in office since being elected in 2014, he is running for reelection once again. 

“I’ve really enjoyed my tenure for the last two terms, and I hope to serve you one more time at least,” Samaniego said at the April 7 Shelby chamber luncheon.

He gave credit to the Shelby County Commission and said they do a wonderful job taking the needs of the sheriff’s office and providing the proper funding to deliver services to the citizens. 

Samaniego shared numbers from 2021. The department answered 283,000 calls for service; investigators took 132 illegal weapons off the streets and seized more than 500 pounds of illegal narcotics; were able to serve over 2,000 arrest warrants for the court system and maintained an average of 491 jail inmates. 

“We have doubled the amount of mandated continuing education for all deputies, including jail deputies,” he said. “I’m a believer in training and preparation and that separates us from a lot of other agencies.” 

Samaniego said he gives a lot of credit to the families of the deputies, saying the support they give those deputies it's something they can't live without. 

A wellness program was instituted in January that focuses not only on employee’s physical wellness, but also emotional, financial wellness and spiritual wellness. Dieticians, financial planners, psychologists and chiropractors will also be available. 

“To say I'm very proud of the men and women at the sheriff’s office is an understatement,” Samaniego said. “They're so dedicated to this county and to each other and to delivering the services to the citizens. Our challenge is great, but I think we have the proper amount of people that have the right attitude and right training to deliver those services.”

Although Shelby County is considered one of the best departments in the state, they have still faced challenges recruiting employees. The department is currently six deputies down and four jail deputies down, some of which are due to retirements. 

Samaniego said that he was against the recent legislation that was passed allowing handguns to be carried without a permit, which will lead to guns getting in the hands of people who have not been vetted with the department.

“It eliminated a tool for law enforcement to deal with citizens,” he said. “We polled the sheriff’s during the legislative session and out of 34 answered surveys regarding how many permits were turned down, it was over 6,000 and the majority of the reason they were turned down was mental health issues. But, it's the law now and we will deal with it the best we can.”