Ten Hope To Fill Sheriff’S Position County Republicans Will Choose Three Nominees From List

Republican Party leaders will choose from a list of 10 candidates in nominating three people to succeed Kootenai County Sheriff Pierce Clegg.

A sheriff’s lieutenant, a Coeur d’Alene police captain, a deputy U.S. marshal and a handful of retired law enforcement officers are on the final list of candidates complied by the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee.

A party screening committee will begin interviewing candidates Wednesday, said party chairman Bob Nonini.

“They all look qualified,” Nonini said Monday. “It’s going to be a tough decision for us.”

Clegg announced his resignation last month after 11 years as sheriff. His last day will be June 20.

County commissioners have 21 days after Clegg leaves office to choose a new sheriff. Commissioners have not set a schedule to name a successor but hope to move quickly.

“I’m sure we all have our preferences, but we have to look at all of them and make sure we have the best candidates,” Commissioner Ron Rankin said.

State law requires candidates to be U.S. citizens, at least 21 years old and Kootenai County residents for at least a year at the time they take office. Law enforcement experience is not required, but all of the candidates have at least a few years’ experience - a qualification party leaders and commissioners desire.

Candidates include former sheriff Rocky Watson, sheriff’s Lt. Jeff Thomas, who heads the department’s patrol division, and Coeur d’Alene police Capt. Carl Bergh, who oversees that department’s investigative division.

Sheriff’s deputy Joe Bodman, a department K-9 handler and Post Falls City Council member, also hopes to succeed his boss.

Other candidates include Tad Leach, a college law enforcement instructor, Ed Quist, a current deputy U.S. Marshal and retired Spokane police officer, retired Los Angeles police officers Richard Welts of Coeur d’Alene and Tom Dickson of Cataldo, Ted Pulver, who owns a Post Falls private investigation company, and Dean Roland, a former sheriff’s deputy.

Candidates will be asked to attend the party’s central committee meeting on June 15 to detail their qualifications and law enforcement experience. Precinct leaders will nominate three possible successors following a question-and-answer session.

County commissioners must hire Clegg’s successor from the three candidates recommended by the Republican Party.

Watson, 53, owns the Watson Agency, a private security company currently contracted to provide security at the county courthouse. Thomas has been with the Sheriff’s Department for nine years, rising from the rank of patrol deputy.

Bergh started as a patrol officer with the Coeur d’Alene Police Department in 1973 and has worked his way to investigative captain. Bodman, who was elected to the Post Falls City Council in 1997, has 10 years of experience as a deputy.

Leach, who teaches law enforcement at North Idaho College, is a former police chief in the Chicago area with nearly 30 years of law enforcement experience. Quist, who lives at Kidd Island Bay, went into federal law enforcement after retiring from the Spokane Police Department in 1992.

Welts’ resume lists 30 years of experience with the Los Angeles Police Department, ending in 1991. Dickson worked five years as a Kootenai County sheriff’s deputy after spending several years with the LAPD.

Pulver owns Pulver Investigations and is known for his work as a polygrapher. Roland currently is a police chief in Wisconsin.

Party leaders will submit their nominees to county commissioners on June 16 in hopes that commissioners will choose Clegg’s successor before the sheriff leaves office later this month.

Concern over complications from a spill Clegg’s wife, Lois, took off a horse last year and the desire to help the department make a smooth transition to new leadership were reasons Clegg gave for resigning 18 months before his third term ends.

The new sheriff will serve the remainder of Clegg’s term, and have to run for re-election in November 2000 if he chooses to continue as the county’s top cop.

This sidebar appeared with the story: SHERIFF HUNT Nominations Kootenai County Republican Central Committee precinct leaders will nominate three candidates to succeed Sheriff Pierce Clegg at meeting on June 15. The meeting, which will be open to the public, will begin at 7 p.m. at The Coeur d’Alene Resort.