Q&A with Goodhue County Sheriff candidate Scott McNurlin

Both you and your opponent have extensive experience in local law enforcement. How do you distinguish yourself as a candidate?

Where we clearly differ is in the areas of administrative experience, relevant qualifications, and the proven ability to lead at the administrative level. For an organization of our size, the sheriff is purely an administrative position.

As second in command to the sheriff for the past 12 years, I have already performed many of the administrative duties and tasks required of this position, and I have demonstrated the proven leadership to implement several large projects across the county working with representatives from every municipality and entity within the public safety community.

With cities like Wanamingo reducing hours of patrol by Goodhue County deputies, how would you work to maintain the Sheriff's Office presence in rural communities?

We maintain a stronger presence in rural communities by creating strategic partnerships with the people we serve, such as the creation of the Sheriff's Advisory Group in Wanamingo and the Neighborhood Watch Group in Frontenac Station. By regularly meeting with citizens through efforts such as these, we can share information, prioritize enforcement efforts, and discuss crime prevention strategies for both when deputies are present and when they are not. These stronger partnerships help empower citizens to become a vital and important link to law enforcement to help us to be more effective in our work and to help them protect themselves.

What are the biggest challenges facing local law enforcement today and how would you deal with those challenges?

The use of illicit drugs continues to be the biggest challenge for law enforcement. The illicit drug trade not only ruins lives and families, but it spawns other crime such as burglary and theft as we have been recently experiencing in the county. We will continue to deal with this problem through aggressive enforcement.

Last year we were fortunate to receive a federal grant to add an additional investigator into our investigative unit for the express purpose of drug enforcement, and the additional position coupled with our existing position has paid big dividends. We will continue that aggressive approach.

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