Polk County Sheriff Mark Garton is facing his first challenger as he seeks a third term. Steve Warden, the emergency services chief for the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, is seeking the position, giving voters a choice between two men with long histories in law enforcement.  Mark Garton is in his ninth year as Polk County sheriff. Garton first came to the job in 2015 after the previous sheriff retired and county commissioners appointed Garton. He was elected in 2016 and again in 2020 without opposition.Warden said he’s running not as a challenge to Garton directly, but to offer voters another option. The sheriff is nonpartisan and is elected to a four-year term. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office employs 71 people and has a budget of $15.3 million for the 2024-25 fiscal year. The sheriff is paid $129,144 annually, according to the county’s salary schedule.  Both candidates grew up in the area and have worked in law enforcement since they were teenagers.  Here’s how the two men want to approach the position if elected this year and their approaches to issues like traffic safety, department staffing and community engagement.  Mark Garton, Polk County Sheriff Mark Garton is in his second term as Polk County Sheriff after being appointed in 2015. (Campaign photo) Name: Mark Garton Party: Nonpartisan Age: 45 Residence: Dallas Occupation: Polk County Sheriff Education: Dallas High School; Chemeketa Community College, associate’s degree in criminal justice Prior law enforcement experience: 28 years with Polk County Sheriff’s office, including patrol deputy, detective and sergeant Top issues: Traffic safety, healthcare and employee retention Garton, 45, wants to continue leading the department where he’s worked since he was 17. He’s been a cadet, patrol deputy, sergeant, detective and spent almost a decade as sheriff. Originally from Pedee, a small town 16 miles south of Dallas, Garton grew up knowing he wanted to be in law enforcement. He lived on a street that had regular car crashes and whenever his family heard one, they ran down to help.  Garton remembers seeing sheriff deputies always at the scene, and appreciated how they interacted with the community. He said the way the sheriff’s office engages with the public is different than bigger city departments, because often there’s one officer handling the situation alone.  Garton said he likes knowing how to handle tough situations and protect himself while still engaging with the community. With Garton’s family ties to the area, working in local law enforcement kept him close to the community he grew up and is raising his children in. “Not everybody does, but I like to work and live in the same community,” Garton said. “For some that’s complicated, but to me, it doesn’t bother me.” Experience Between 2013 and 2015, Garton remembers, the sheriff’s office patrolled only 10 hours a day with seven deputies, including him and the previous sheriff.  During his years as sheriff, the patrolling staff has increased as Garton has successfully convinced voters to support a higher tax rate to improve services.  “I’m proud of that, because where we were nine years ago to now, (it’s a) night and day difference … we’re full staff, back to 24/7,” Garton said. The county’s public safety levy, which funds the sheriff’s office, was 37.5 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value in 2015, when Garton took office. In 2023, voters approved an increase to 49.5 cents, which let the department keep on 14 deputies. The levy is renewed every five years, and Garton said he and his staff talk with the community about how to make sure the budget can address public needs and concerns.  Future plans If re-elected, Garton wants to keep pushing for a new waiver which would allow some people in jail custody to keep their Medicaid. In Oregon, once someone is arrested, they lose insurance coverage, whether it’s through Medicaid, the Oregon Health Plan or a private provider.  As sheriff, Garton’s seen a large need in his community for health care, something that’s been increased by mental health issues and drug use.  “We had a lady, she was in our jail for six months. Her medications per month were $50,000 and it was on me … We have somebody in there currently who has brain cancer and we have to take him to radiation treatments,” Garton said.  Previously, the department had $500,000 annually to cover medical costs for those in custody and the department was “consistently” going over the budget, according to Garton. This budget year, he pushed for more money and got it. The current budget is now $700,000.  Another thing the department’s working on is getting new kennels for dogs and other pets after the department’s contract with the Oregon Humane Society recently ended due to cost. Garton said new kennels will arrive in July next year and be stationed at the Polk County fairgrounds.  “I want to see that happen, because there could be a lot of good things that can come from that,” such as inmates taking ownership in caring for the pets, Garton said. “I think that’d be a benefit, mental health wise, for inmates, not just staff.” To address the number of traffic crashes on local roads and state highways, Garton has a goal to establish a new traffic deputy position. The deputy would be dedicated to enforcing traffic laws, especially focusing on addressing distracted and impaired driving. Until the department could afford to hire a new deputy for traffic, Garton said the position would be filled by regular patrol deputies. Another goal Garton has, if re-elected, is to continue trying to improve the department’s retention.  In the last four years, the sheriff’s office has lost seven or eight employees to Oregon State Police, who offer better pay. Each person who leaves costs the department $150,000 in hiring, training and putting them through the academy.   Garton said the sheriff’s office hired 30 people in the last three to four years to replace the number of people who left.  He didn’t have new ideas for addressing retention, but said he supports retention efforts already in place, like allowing visible tattoos and a take home car program. He said he also hopes that peer support also helps people stay on. Steve Warden, Grand Ronde Chief of Emergency Services Steve Warden is the emergency services chief for the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde and is running for Polk County Sheriff to give voters a choice. (Campaign photo) Name: Steve Warden Party: Nonpartisan Age: 62 Residence: Buell Occupation: Grand Ronde Chief of Emergency Services Education: South Salem High School Prior law enforcement experience: Yamhill County Sheriff’s Office, deputy and sergeant Top issues: Community engagement, department retention and traffic safety Warden, 62, is not running for sheriff as a criticism of Garton and his history with the department. He said he’s doing it for the community.  “It’s a constitutional position, and we need to have options,” Warden said. He said he’s running for sheriff “so people can look and say, ‘Are we happy with what I’ve got? Is there something this other person can come in and bring more to it?’” Warden is a lifelong resident of the area and, like Garton, a lifelong worker in public safety. He said as a child he wanted to either run a railroad, be a fire chief or become the sheriff.  He’s spent a lifetime across Oregon law enforcement agencies, from police departments to sheriff’s offices to fire departments.  Experience Warden started working in law enforcement as a high school student in 1977 when he enrolled in a cadet program at the Salem Police Department.  In 1984, he went to work full time at Yamhill County Sheriff’s Office as a patrol deputy and then sergeant. Warden retired from Yamhill County in 2011 but went back two weeks later to continue working part time. During his part time work in Yamhill County, Warden was promoted to lieutenant.  He’s volunteered at fire departments in Polk County, including Spring Valley, where he was a lieutenant, and Sheridan, where he was a captain. He was also a battalion chief with the Newburg Fire Department. “I was just ready to look at different options, but I didn’t want to give up my full career,” Warden said. “So I retired, and I went back part time, and that gave me opportunities that I didn’t have, working full time, like serving on the state incident management teams.”Warden went out on teams to address major fires as a state teams’ law enforcement liaison officer. He also worked on the Oregon State Marine Board and other state committees including the State Fire Marshal’s Wildland Urban Interface.  Next month, Warden will step away from his part time position at Yamhill County Sheriff’s Office. Warden started at Grand Ronde as Emergency Operations Coordinator in 2016. In around four years, he was promoted to chief of emergency services and was told to build the tribe’s fire department from “ground zero,” he said.  In the beginning stages, Portland’s fire department donated two surplus fire engines to Grand Ronde. “I put it all together, came up with a plan, told them, I’d have it done in five years,” Warden said. “We were actually pretty much up and running by 2022.” Currently, Grand Ronde operates two fully staffed fire stations 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Warden oversees 45 employees who provide fire and medical services to around 264 square miles of Polk County.  Future plans One of Warden’s hopes if elected is to work on the department’s accessibility to the community.  “I have heard from people that there is less accessibility, less responsiveness, than they would like to see,” Warden said. “That could be a matter of perception, or it could be reality, but my thought is … we all have to work closely together.” Warden sees civic engagement as a necessity for the community and wants to increase the number of deputies and command staff out to local organizations and meetings to represent the department.  To address the department’s difficulties with retention, Warden wants to survey command staff, supervisors and all of the deputies.  “It’s probably a six month process, but I’d take the time to talk to every single one of the deputies and say, ‘Give me five pluses, five minuses. Where do you see this going in five years? What are your thoughts?’” Warden said.  Based on feedback from staff, he’d want to plan how to address the concerns or suggestions by reorganizing department resources.  One big concern Warden wants to work on if elected is traffic safety.  “If you’ve only got two deputies for the county, that’s difficult to do, but if you engage with three or four other agencies and you set up a traffic safety program … Who knows?” Warden said. “You can make a difference. You can reduce crashes and you can save some lives.” In Yamhill County, Warden worked on a multi-agency team that worked to address traffic safety on one of the area’s more dangerous highways. He said he wants to do the same thing for Polk County if he becomes sheriff.  Campaign finance Garton Campaign contributions: $6,560 Expenditures: $5,912 Cash on hand: $1,611 Top contributors: Mark Garton, $4,000; Tyrone Jenkins, $500; Jeffrey Isham, $500; Friends of Polk County Public Safety, $360; David Sutherland, $300.  Warden Warden’s campaign does not accept contributions, as he does not want the public to assume he’s being affected or “bought” by donors. “The minute somebody has a bunch of donations coming in, especially high dollar donations, and I’ve had a few of those offered, it casts a shadow of a doubt on the person running,” Warden said.  State campaign finance records show no reported transactions for Warden’s campaign. Contact reporter Madeleine Moore: [email protected]. A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE– If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don’t already. 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