By Dewey Terrill
JC Post
A former Geary County Sheriff’s Department employee and retired military service member, Daniel Jackson, is the person the Geary County Republican Central Committee is recommending to serve as the next sheriff.
The vote by the Republican precinct committee men and women totaled 27 votes for Jackson and 9 votes for current undersheriff Brad Clark. There were no other candidates nominated during the convention held Saturday morning at the Geary County 4-H / Senior Citizens Center.
According to Republican Party Central Committee Chair Rick Roberts the recommendation now goes to Governor Kelly. “She has two choices. She can sign off on it and it goes into effect immediately, or after seven days if she does not sign off on to it he will become sheriff of Geary County.”
Jackson will serve an unexpired term of sheriff that runs until January 2021. He will fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Tony Wolf, after Wolf was convicted of one felony count of theft and one misdemeanor count of Misuse of Public Funds.
Following the convention Jackson said it was a little overwhelming at the current time. “It’s just a lot to take in. I’m very excited. I’m think I’m very capable of filling this position, but it’s also at this moment in time very exciting.”
Jackson formerly served with the Sheriff”s Department where he was a deputy who was then promoted to lieutenant and served as a watch commander for a four-man shift. During a later stint with the Department he served as a detective. Jackson is a Geary County native. During his time in the military he served three tours in Iraq and in Afghanistan. He spent two years working at the Pentagon, and is a former employee of the Junction City Police Department. the I-135 Drug Task Force and the Grandview Plaza Police Department.
Jackson said he wants to see increased inter-agency cooperation with the Fire and Police Departments. One example would be to have fire department rescue swimmers on the boat with sheriff’s personnel when they’re patrolling Milford Lake.
Clark was asked for his thoughts on the outcome. “It is what it is and I’ll do what I can to contribute to the success of the department. I’m just relieved it’s over with. I’m glad we’re moving forward.” Clark has served as Acting Sheriff since Wolf was first arrested in October of last year, and before that served as the undersheriff for the department.