Albany County sheriff candidates Aaron Appelhans, Democratic Incumbent, and Joel Senior, Republican, debated on transparency and the role of law enforcement during a Thursday night debate at the University of Wyoming College of Business.
The debate was hosted by both the university’s Political Science Club and Criminal Justice Club and was moderated by Jeff Victor of The Laramie Reporter.
Throughout the debate, there were several key issues that the candidates diverged on.
Appelhans and Senior had differing views on what the role of the sheriff is when it comes to upholding local and state laws and the federal constitution.
Senior explained that if he felt that a law was unconstitutional then he would choose not to enforce it.
“There’s a lot of folks within our community right now concerned about federal overreach and actions that our federal government is taking,” Senior said.
“So if they were to enact a law such as a firearms confiscation or restrict our movement [like during the COVID-19 pandemic] I would support the rights of our citizens to not follow those specific laws.”
Senior’s ideology is very similar to the one that underpins the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA), which the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has classified as a right-wing anti-government extremist group.
According to the ADL, the CSPOA believes that county sheriffs have the power over other branches of government to oppose laws that they deem to be unconstitutional and to call on a militia to support this opposition.
During the debate, Appelhans said that the CSPOA reached out to him when he was first appointed as Sheriff.
“I flat out told them no and that I’m not going to be part of the group,” Appelhans said. “When you start taking sides from one group or another, you are letting your biases come out in that police work and that’s not the kind of quality law enforcement that we need here in Albany County.”
Appelhans explained that it is the role of the judicial system is to determine if laws are unconstitutional and it is not up to the Sheriff.
“As Sheriff, I don’t get to pick and choose the laws which we enforce. It’s my job to enforce all laws equally,” Appelhans said.
“Whenever there is a conflict within our system, between federal law or state law, it is up to the judicial branch of government to decide whether that law can be put forth or should be denied.”
The candidates also disagreed on how the Sheriff’s Office should be run and what classifies as best internal practices.
During his time in office, Appelhans has placed an emphasis on hiring more diversely, something Senior disagreed with during the debate.
“My emphasis is on hiring the most qualified individuals to serve our community,” Senior said.
Under Appelhans, the Sheriff’s Office has made it a point to advertise job openings to members of underrepresented groups.
“Traditionally, law enforcement isn’t very welcoming to [those groups],” Appelhans said. “So we advertise to say that we have an environment where people can come and work and where all people can come and thrive.”
There was also contention over transparency in the Sheriff’s Office.
Senior claimed the oOffice is lacking in transparency, while Appelhans argued that the Office has seen improvement under his leadership in that area.
Senior’s concern was with how the oOffice failed to immediately send out press releases after inmates died in the Albany County Detention Center.
There have been three recent deaths in the cCenter. Two were the results of suicide attempts and the third was the result of fentanyl being introduced into the jail.
“If individuals are dying in the detention center, it’s important that the public knows,” Senior said.
Information about the deaths by suicide was not publicized out of respect for their families.
“We’re pretty proud of the way we’ve handled that situation, especially for the families that were involved,” Appelhans said.
The debate ended with closing statements by the two candidates and their requests for votes during the November, 8, General Election.
