BOISE, Idaho — The next Ada County Sheriff is set to be selected by the Ada County Republicans Central Committee this week. This comes after former Sheriff Steve Bartlett suddenly announced his retirement at the end of May.
An official reason for his resignation was not made public. However, Bartlett said in a note to employees he was resigning "to attend to a couple of personal items."
Filling the vacancy became the responsibility of the Ada County Republicans Central Committee. They are expected to select three people as nominees to be the next sheriff. Once the three names have been selected, the Ada County Commissioners will vote on their final choice.
The three candidates selected are Doug Traubel, Mike Chilton and Matt Clifford.
- Doug Traubel, retired investigator at Ada County Prosecuting Attorney's Office
- Matt Clifford, the current Eagle Police chief
- Mike Chilton, an instructor with West Ada School District teaching Law Enforcement
The final decision is expected Friday afternoon. Before then, KTVB extended an invitation to all three candidates to answer questions about the position and why they feel they are best suited for it.
Clifford, the current chief of the Eagle Police Department, is currently part of the Ada County Sheriff's Office (ACSO), as Eagle contracts with ACSO for law enforcement services. He has worked for the office in different capacities since 2000.
Clifford told KTVB his resume and experience make him the ideal candidate for the opening. He believes experience is key, but also said fresh eyes can be valuable to a department.
"I would never take the stance of 'keep things the way they are,' because we have to always be improving, especially in this business," Clifford said. "If you want to keep things the way they are, you're going to move backwards in time. People will run you over and you'll get lost in the dust."
Clifford said ACSO is an agency that runs efficiently and has a positive culture, which directly reflects how the agency serves the citizens of Ada County.
"All we need to do are make some tweaks and keep us on the right road to moving forward into the future, becoming better," Clifford said. "That's why the agency is the way it is; very well respected. These people work hard, they love their jobs, they love to serve citizens. So I'm going to be more of, 'Hey, we need to make some tweaks.'"
Law enforcement has been in the spotlight both locally and nationally over the past several years. Clifford acknowledged that officers, troopers and deputies alike have a responsibility to uphold a strong moral code.
"One thing we hear from our community is, we believe that the ethics and the way officers conduct themselves comes from the top down," he said. "What message would you have the community share in terms of assuring them that there are strong ethics within this department, and you're confident that deputies will do the right thing?"
Traubel declined an on-camera interview for now but issued the following statement on his bid for Ada County Sheriff:
I appreciate the patience of so many in the media. I've not responded to the majority of attempts to reach me, as this process demands my full attention. The Ada County GOP Central Committee provided three solid candidates. I am honored to be one of them. Of course, I believe I am the preferred candidate and the majority agreed. With one day remaining in this process, I choose to let it run its course. If I am selected, I will certainly be available soon after.
All three candidates answered questions Wednesday during a public job interview conducted by the Ada County Commissioners. Traubel was first up and quickly faced questions about his thoughts and writings that have been published over the years on a variety of topics. Traubel said regardless of his writings and beliefs, he believes he could be an effective Sheriff capable of separating personal beliefs and professional responsibility.
"My professionalism trumps any preferences I have, I've never shortchanged anybody. I've never treated anybody different and I'm proud of that and it's been reflected over and over and over again," Traubel said.
Some of Traubel's writings on social media and in his book have generated conversations about his beliefs on things like race, politics, and COVID-19. In regards to his past comments, Traubel says he understands how important public trust is.
"Public trust is fragile, so every contact either erodes or degrades the public trust. And so as a leader, I'm aware of that and it's important that all my deputies know that as well, every contact, whether it's a witness a victim, a suspect, you know, treat them with dignity. Dignity, and if you have to use force, use the measured amount of force that you need to know more," Traubel said.
The second candidate up was Mike Chilton, a current instructor with West Ada School District teaching Law Enforcement.
Commissioners pressed Chilton about his work experience, as well as his values.
Though he has not worked in law enforcement for a number of years, he told the commissioners that he is still connected to active law enforcement and believes he has support within those circles. He added that he has continued to maintain strong law enforcement values.
"I think I have probably close to 200 deputies that have texted or called me, I was shocked by the outpouring of people, but having said that there's a lot of new people that have been hiring, there is pretty high turnover at that agency which is unfortunate and also costly. But, I think every transition I went through, almost everybody preferred the person that they knew, even if they really didn't know them," Chilton said.
When asked about goals and changes he would make if appointed sheriff, Chilton highlighted the importance of keeping up with the incredible growth Ada County is seeing.
"I think that we ought to go back and see what we need to protect the public for today, tomorrow, next year, five years down the road and try to plan that out, that spending," Chilton said.
Ada County Commissioners are set to meet Friday afternoon for a public meeting where they will discuss and select a new Ada County Sheriff.
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