Wolfinger, Green disagree on sheriff role

At the Panhandle Pachyderm Club March 18, “constitutional sheriff” candidate John Green, foreground, and Kootenai County Sheriff Ben Wolfinger share ideas during the lunch hour at Templin’s Red Lion in Post Falls. (Duane Rasmussen/photo)

The race for sheriff of Kootenai County has gone well beyond a debate over patrol staffing, deputy pay and jail crowding. In the May 17 Republican primary election, Rathdrum attorney John Green is challenging Sheriff Ben Wolfinger’s ideological view on the role of sheriff.

Green, who spent about 10 years as a Texas peace officer, is part of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, which claims the federal government overreaches on issues concerning taxes, land management and gun rights, and that sheriffs have the power to resist federal laws and arrest federal officials they believe are violating the Constitution. Rancher Cliven Bundy’s armed showdown with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in Nevada and this year’s armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters in Oregon are two instances when the local sheriffs should have intervened, he said. “It’s no secret I have no respect for the federal government,” said Green, who is endorsed by Constitutional Sheriffs founder Richard Mack, a former sheriff in Arizona. “They’ve way out-stepped their bounds across the country.”

He and Wolfinger disagree on much, including a recent change in Idaho’s law on concealed weapons permits and how best to deploy the resources of the 305-employee Sheriff’s Office. They even have different takes on facial hair on the job/ Scott Maben , SR. More here.

Question: What new thing have you learned about the sheriff’s race from this article?