Watson will run again for sheriff

Rocky Watson is seeking another term as Kootenai County sheriff.

“We have a lot of things in the mill that I feel really good about working toward,” said Watson, who has been sheriff for the past nine years. He was also county sheriff in the 1970s.

Watson said his top priority is the “war on drugs.”

“Our drug epidemic is responsible for many crimes which we are seeing on our streets every day,” Watson said.

He said there’s also a growing gang problem that he hopes to address through an expansion of the area’s multi-agency major crime unit.

Expanding the inmate labor program is another goal, Watson said. He proposes using inmate workers to sort recyclables from trash and clean and maintain an animal shelter. Watson said there’s a need for a new jail and increased staffing at the Sheriff’s Department.