James McCrary announces for re-election

This post is going to be more long winded than usual for me, so please bear with me. And please excuse my grammar.

I would like to officially announce that I will be running for a second term as Cedar County Sheriff. It has been an honor to serve the people of Cedar County as your Sheriff for the past few years.

We have made amazing progress at the Sheriff’s Office in the past few years and I would like to continue moving forward in that direction. Keep in mind that I said “we”, because this has been a team effort. We have an amazing group of Deputies, Corrections Officers, Communications and Office staff that have made this possible. They have done an awesome job! Also working with Cedar County’s Commissioners and other elected Officials has been great. By working together, along with the people of Cedar County we have accomplished a lot in my time in Office.

Here are a few accomplishments that I would like share with you:

1: We have a School Resource Officer in the El Dorado Springs School District. Corporal Josh King has done an amazing job. His presence has improved the safety of our students and staff, And not only that, I know that having an SRO here will impact crime in Cedar County for years to come. I could go on and on. Can’t say enough about our SRO and how much this benefits our community.

2: For the first time in the history of the Sheriff’s Office we have new patrol vehicles for almost every Deputy. That’s 11 new vehicles and one used Highway Patrol vehicle. (all 4 wheel drive) These vehicles replaced the old worn out, unsafe vehicles that the Deputies were using. In addition, the new vehicles have saved a bunch of money on vehicle repairs.

3: We have kept the jail full (sometimes overfull) for the past two years. This has generated approximately $40,000 per year in extra revenue over the previous years.

4: I have used non-taxpayer funds to purchase vehicles, equipment and supplies for the Sheriff’s Office, saving taxpayers thousands per year. For example we purchased a new inmate transport van. This is from money that we make from inmates at the jail. We are in the process right now of purchasing another new vehicle for the Sheriff’s office.

5: We have improved the inmate phone system, visitation system and commissary at the jail. This is creating more revenue than ever before, which gives me the ability to purchase the items i talked about above.

6: We have came in under budget for the past two years in a row, I believe this is something that has not been done in over 30 years. (maybe never been done) For the year 2019 we were under budget by about $140,000.

7: We went to a digital radio system, this greatly improved communications. We can now communicate with Deputies in almost all areas of the county. We will be installing a new digital repeater in El Dorado Springs this year. That should take care of those last few “dead spots” we have on that side of the county.

8: We have added an additional Deputy to our staff. We can better cover all areas of the County and at all times of the day and night.

9: We have made a big impact on the drug problem in Cedar County. Our Deputies have been working very hard on this. Our Drug Task Force Officer and another Deputy made four arrests for meth in just one week recently.

10: We have added a Canine Officer to our staff who has done an amazing job locating illegal drugs.

I am always working on ways to continue improving the service we provide. I have several ideas to accomplish that in the near future. I will keep you all posted.

Thank you all for taking the time to read this. I could go on but i will stop here for now. As always if anyone wishes to visit with me or if you have any concerns or questions I am available, just give me a call or stop by.

Again, this has all been a team effort. I cannot say enough about our dedicated staff at the Sheriff’s Office and all they do for us.

I will close by expressing my sincere thanks to the people of Cedar County for trusting in me. I look forward to serving as your Sheriff for another term. If re-elected I will continue to work very hard for you. Thank you.