By AARON ROVENSTINE
Kosciusko County Sheriff

I was recently asked if I was interested in doing a monthly article on InkFreeNews.com similar to the “Ask the Sheriff’ columns done by Sheriff Brad Rogers of neighboring Elkhart County. After considering it for a while and being assured that I would have some input on the articles, we agreed to this monthly undertaking.

I think it could be beneficial not only to help the community understand the sheriff’s office, but also in helping us understand, through questions, what the public is interested in and concerned about. So from time to time we will be asking for input from the public on subjects of interest or general questions that you wish to have answered. From time to time we may have other members of the department answer some questions or even have some featured guests, so for now we can call this a work in progress.

I thought I would start with a question I have been asked numerous times over the years and that question being “What’s the difference in the sheriff and the police chief or state trooper?”

A simple answer to that question would be the major difference, other than a few statutory requirements and the fact that here in Indiana the sheriff is responsible for operating the jail and preserving order in the courts, is the fact that the sheriff is the chief law enforcement officer of the county, in which he or she is elected.

The office of sheriff is a constitutional office, which reports directly to the citizens of his county. In contrast the chief of police or town marshal is an appointed positions either by the mayor or town council. State police officers are commissioned by the governor’s office. Although charged with many of the same duties, the major difference is that the sheriff is the highest law enforcement official the people can vote for and in so doing gives the citizens input and a voice in what they expect in their law enforcement.

A way to sum it up is I used to jokingly tell my friend, the chief of police, he had it made. He only had to try and keep one person happy, the mayor. While I need to try to please 75,000 people.

Email your questions for Ask Sheriff Rovenstine to [email protected] a question will be selected and the answer will be published. Not every question will make the column and comments may be edited for brevity and your name will not be published.

It is important that we hear from the community and I am looking forward to your input.