Trio competing for open Lake County sheriff job

The election for the next Lake County sheriff has been anything but humdrum.

Three candidates are vying to replace incumbent Lucky Larson, a Republican who decided not to seek a second term.

Undersheriff Jay Doyle won a three-way Republican primary earlier this year and now faces independent Steve Kendley and Democrat Dan Yonkin. All three men currently work in the Sheriff’s Office and say they want to improve communication between the Sheriff’s Office and the public.

Doyle defeated Jeff Kingery and Art Walgren in the Republican primary by getting 45 percent of the vote. Kingery, a reserve deputy for the Ronan Police Department, and Walgren, assistant police chief in Ronan, are listed as members of Kendley’s support committee. Yonkin was unopposed in the Democrat primary.

Doyle said he is running because he believes he’s the “most qualified” candidate. “After over 20 years, I have got some good ideas to help improve the Sheriff’s Office and service to the community,” he said.

Doyle’s goals include: re-establishing mandatory patrol zones, including in rural areas; implementing crisis training programs with local police departments, such as Ronan, Polson, and tribal police; publicizing a most-wanted list in a local newspaper and on the radio; and starting a program that would allow fines to be worked off through community service or jail time.

Doyle would like to reintroduce a citizens academy, which has been inactive for four years, and have a citizens advisory board, which would help keep law enforcement apprised of what’s going on in the communities.

Doyle called the citizens academy “an educational tool to get the citizens educated.” Citizens could potentially take courses on such things as firearm safety, including trips to the firing range with deputies, and “learn how we put cases together.” Prosecutors and juvenile probation officers could teach courses, too, Doyle said.

As far as a lack of communication in the current Sheriff’s Office, “There’s always room for improvement,” Doyle said. “The goal is to get the Sheriff’s Office involved in the community, and the community involved in the Sheriff’s Office.”

Yonkin cited three reasons why he’s running: 1) Larson’s decision not to run again, 2) he has wanted to run for sheriff for some time, and 3) wanting to make whatever changes might be necessary.

His goals include working on crime prevention and addressing drug issues and other crimes tied to drug issues and addressing issues in the detention facility, which often runs at its 42-bed capacity.

In accordance with these goals, he would reassign an individual to work with the Northwest Drug Task Force, which hasn’t happened for two years; better inform the public by posting a warrant list on the Internet; and use a work-release program that allows those with misdemeanor convictions to serve their time in community service.

The warrant list has been as high as 800, he said. Those with misdemeanor offenses are a minority in the jail, but “it’s still a significant number,” he said.

Yonkin wants to promote the Sheriff’s Office more. “We need to communicate better with the public,” he said.

Yonkin notes that he has been the deputy coroner for the past six years, which would help if he’s elected sheriff because the officeholder also is the county coroner.

Kendley said he’s running because he didn’t think the best person was on the Republican primary ballot. He announced prior to Yonkin.

Kendley is running as an independent because “it fits my beliefs about the Sheriff’s Office.”

Kendley said he wants to establish regular communication and training with deputies. “I know we’re not having regular communication” now, he said, noting they’ve had only two or three inter-departmental meetings in the four years he’s been with the Sheriff’s Office. In those meetings, “We just basically got scolded,” he said. “The people in the field know more what’s going on than the person in the office.”

Kendley’s goals include building a team atmosphere and working cooperatively with all law enforcement agencies, including tribal police, Montana Highway Patrol, and the U.S. Border Patrol.

He also wants to “make a functioning satellite office” in Arlee and the Swan Valley. One already exists in the Swan, but Kendley wants to upgrade it and staff it regularly. He noted that the Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes offered office space in Arlee.

There has not been any Lake County Sheriff’s Office presence on Flathead Lake in years, Kendley said on his website. “You voted to have an operation boat and law enforcement presence on Flathead Lake. It was campaigned for and approved in (a recently approved) Mil Levy [sic], and you should have it.”

In a letter to PrisonPlanet.com dated Feb. 17, Kendley said he was basing the first “plank” of his campaign on upholding the oath of office to defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of Montana from all enemies, foreign and domestic.

A Website, asksheriffluckylarson.com, created by Terry Leonard, a former Lake County sheriff’s deputy who was fired earlier this year, has added intrigue to the race.

The site criticizes Larson and Doyle over a variety of issues, some of which date back several years and which Doyle says have been resolved or are being distorted for political purposes.

Yonkin believes that some of the complaints listed on the asksheriffluckylarson.com website may have merit, but he doesn’t have any direct knowledge of the claims on the site. “It’s particularly troubling that the Sheriff’s Office had to go [through] such a public display and venting of issues,” Yonkin said.

In a letter to the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices, Lanny Vanmeter, Doyle’s secretary-treasurer, complained that Leonard’s website and group — Concerned Citizens of Lake County — violated state law by not registering as a campaign committee and not filing required financial reports.

Leonard said the website is “not politically motivated,” according to The Associated Press. He also said he is solely responsible for Concerned Citizens of Lake County.

If more than one person is involved with the committee and the committee has conducted campaign activity, the committee is required to disclose information, Commissioner of Political Practices Dennis Unsworth said. Campaign activity consists of direct promotion or opposition to a candidate, he said.

Lake County sheriff’s deputies searched Leonard’s Polson home on Sept. 30 and seized computers and digital recording devices pursuant to a search warrant.

Leonard contacted the American Civil Liberties Union about the search last week, but a representative later said the organization is not “very interested” at this time. ACLU Communications Director Amy Cannata said she told Leonard to submit a complaint and that it would be reviewed.

Lake County’s County Attorney Mitch Young said Leonard has not been charged with anything and that an investigation is proceeding in regard to possible criminal defamation, a misdemeanor.

Jay Doyle

Republican

Age: 46

Family: Married, two children

Occupation: Undersheriff, 4 years, lieutenant detective, 6 years, patrol deputy, school resource officer, detective, detention officer, Lake County Sheriff’s Office; patrolman, Polson Police Department.

Background: state certification at highest level, supervisory command and administration.

Website: jaydoyleforlcsheriff.com

Dan Yonkin

Democrat

Age: 40

Family: Married with two adopted children, three foster children

Occupation: Deputy, 10 years; deputy coroner, 6 years; detention and reserve officer, 1 year, Lake County Sheriff’s Office; former owner of a campground and restaurant, Pablo.

Background: Associate’s degree in electronics; member, Montana Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, National Rifle Association; assistant scout master, Boy Scouts of America.

Website: yourlakecountysheriff.com

Steve Kendley

Independent

Age: 52

Family: Married with one son, one daughter.

Occupation: Deputy detective on domestic violence cases, Lake County Sheriff’s Office, 4 years; patrolman, Polson Police Department, 1 year; youth court probation officer, Lake and Sanders counties, 6 years; farmer; quality assurance engineer for a defense contractor; power plant mechanic; inter-regional firefighter.

Background: Bachelor of Science in Natural Resource Management, University of Montana, 1981; Air Frame and Power Plant Mechanics School, 1982; trustee, First Baptist Church of Polson; Gideon International, National Rifle Association, 2nd Amendment Foundation, Oath Keepers, Montana Shooting Sports Association.

Website: sheriffkendley.com