Rebuilding the Lake County Sheriff's Office — From the Ground Up
When Heath was appointed Sheriff in May 2022, the office was in crisis. It was a tough situation — but Heath had a clear vision and got to work.
From day one, he built everything around three simple values: Integrity, Service, and Excellence. Honesty, putting the community first, and always striving to do better. Those values have guided every decision since.
Here's what's been accomplished together:
Stronger staffing — Shifts are now reliably covered, response times are down, and pay has been raised to competitive levels, so qualified and quality people stay. The certified patrol deputies at the Lake County Sheriff's Office have also been consistently available to respond to calls for service within the city limits of Leadville when needed.
Better training — Field training grew from a brief program with limited documentation to a thorough four-month process, with training hours more than doubling.
Modern equipment — New tools and training have reduced law enforcement use of force in situations and have improved emergency communications.
Full transparency — Annual reports are publicly accessible on the county website, over 350 social media posts keep the community informed, and news releases do the same. Viewed postings have increased from an average of 93 press release views to an average of 43,000 press release views. This is thanks to a dedicated Public Information Officer (PIO).
Smart fiscal decisions — Rather than building a new jail at a cost of over $65 million, a partnership with Chaffee County handles inmate housing for roughly $250,000 a year — saving Lake County millions. Heath has worked closely with the leadership team at the Lake County Government to ensure he understands the county's budget and has all the personnel and tools necessary to meet his statutory requirements.
A rebuilt dispatch center — Heath reestablished the E911 Authority, bringing multiple agencies together to make decisions jointly and to share costs fairly.
A clean, accountable evidence room — There was little to no accountability and no organization in the evidence room. Now, it's staffed, organized, and every item is tracked, improving prosecution rates.
Over $300,000 in grants — Secured for equipment and staffing to best address the needs of our community.
Partnership — From isolation to collaboration. In a small agency with limited resources, Heath knew he had to rebuild broken relationships with local resources, surrounding counties, state, and federal partners. This was needed to improve criminal investigations that target the sources of community problems, to understand and leverage local organizations to improve access to resources, and to work in unison with our federal and local partners to improve community safety, specifically related to fire prevention and wildfire response. Currently, Heath is working closely with partners to address illegal drugs, minors with access to illegal substances, and victims of domestic violence.
Legislative efforts — Heath has provided multiple testimonies to the Colorado General Assembly at the Capitol against legislation that negatively impacts Lake County, our constitutional rights, and the office of sheriff (Colorado SB25-003), and has helped write and pass a law that helps protect Lake County while saving taxpayer dollars (Colorado HB25-1050).
Lake County deserved better — Heath delivered. Now he's asking for your vote to keep moving forward because there is still a lot of work to be accomplished, and he is committed to seeing these projects through.