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Brooke County voters will be asked to choose from two Democratic candidates and two Republican candidates in primary races for the county's sheriff.
Vying for the office on the Democratic ticket are challenger Kevin L. Heck of Follansbee and incumbent Larry C. Palmer Jr. of Wellsburg.
And competing on the Republican ticket are Richard Beatty and Chuck Wright, both of Follansbee.
The winner for each ticket will face each other in the Nov. 3 general election.
A Navy veteran, Beatty has 27 years of experience in law enforcement, having served 16 years as a federal air marshal and assistant supervisor to the agent in charge of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Pittsburgh field office, four years as a corrections officer for the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Prisons and seven as a Follansbee police officer.
He earned a bachelor's degree in psychology at Bethany College and a master's degree in mental health counseling at the Franciscan University of Steubenville.
He said if elected, he will work with local and state officials and the local drug task force to fight the opioid epidemic and to make recovery and rehabilitation more accessible; heighten the visibility of sheriff's deputies at public events, local schools and the community in general; and "maintain an open-door policy to allow the citizens of Brooke County to have a voice and speak up about issues and concerns they have in their communities."
Heck was employed by the Brooke County Sheriff's Department for 32 years, during which he served as a corrections officer, shift supervisor, school resource officer and director of the emergency 911 center and logistics, which involved maintaining department vehicles and equipment, serving as liaison for various information networks and other tasks.
As a school resource officer, he trained for dangerous school situations, spoke to classes about various legal and safety issues and aided state officials in removing youth from unsafe homes.
Heck said if elected, he'd educate seniors about fraud and combat elder abuse, work with the Brooke County Commission to modernize the 911 center, including placing a tower on Washington Pike, and work to educate youth about cyberbullying, drug and alcohol abuse and other issues.
In his fourth year as sheriff, Palmer served as a sheriff's deputy for 21 years and in the Bethany Police Department for 24 years, 21 of them as chief. A former school resource officer, he served as a corrections officer for two years, Wellsburg patrolman for one year and security director at Bethany College for two years.
Palmer is a member of the West Virginia Sheriffs Association's executive board and legislative committee and the Statewide Interoperability Network, which is comprised of state, county and local emergency departments working to establish a statewide emergency radio network.
Palmer said if re-elected, he will continue to work with other law enforcement agencies to arrest drug dealers, support faith-based addiction recovery programs and legislative efforts to provide more in-patient treatment facilities, and support the presence of school resource officers and their role in educating youth about drug and alcohol abuse and preparing for emergency school situations.
A certified auto body technician, Wright is the former owner of New Heights Body Shop and a retired Brooke County school teacher.
As a member of the Brooke High School vocational advisory board, he designed the auto body repair program he taught for 25 years.
Prior to that, Wright worked for 11 years at Weirton Steel, where he was a diesel mechanic and emergency medical technician.
He said if elected, he would ensure people involved in domestic disputes are treated with compassion and respect and drug and alcohol-related offenses are equally enforced for everyone, push for private security guards in schools to allow more officers to be on the streets and investigate residents who register vehicles out of state to avoid paying taxes and meeting inspection requirements.
"The public needs to know I will sacrifice to do whatever it takes to serve them without abusing my position to break the law," Wright said.
Wright criticized Palmer for actions that led to his being reprimanded and fined $5,000 by the state Ethics Commission.
In 2018 Palmer drove his cruiser to the Steubenville Rural King to purchase personal items when his shopping cart got away from him, striking and damaging another vehicle.
According to the commission, an investigation by Steubenville Police led them to Palmer, who said he would contact the vehicle's owner.
After receiving a bill of about $1,969 for repairs, he submitted it as an expense to the Brooke County Commission, saying he backed into the vehicle while on county business.
When questioned by the county commission, he agreed to pay it.
In response, Palmer said he'd written down the vehicle's license plate number and intended to contact the owner and regrets submitting it as a county expense.
"Allegations were made by the Brooke County Commission that I committed crimes. A special prosecuting attorney was appointed and investigated, and I was cleared of any wrongdoing and it was referred to the ethics commission. I signed a conciliatory agreement and paid the fine."
"That's not who I am and I regret making that decision. In the 29 years I've been working here I made one hiccup. Voters can trust me and my leadership. I've done what I told them I'd do four years ago and that's reduce the drug crimes and crimes to property," he said.
Palmer added, "I'm above dirty politics and I won't talk bad about any candidate, nor will I encourage anyone else to."