Marshall County Sheriff’s Deputy Steve Hoffman announced Thursday he will face Jasper County Chief Deputy John Halferty in November’s election for Jasper County sheriff.
Pending his nomination by the Jasper County Republican Party, Hoffman will run as a Republican against Halferty, a Democrat and 15-year-veteran of the sheriff’s office.
Halferty’s challenger, a 21-year law enforcement veteran and a former Baxter police chief, was born and raised in Jasper County. Halferty took the position of sheriff’s deputy in 1997 and was appointed chief deputy by retiring Sheriff Mike Balmer in 2000.
Hoffman has been a deputy sheriff in Marshall County since 1994, where he has served in the detective division assigned to the Mid-Iowa Drug Task Force and as a training officer. He was a traffic safety officer and has overseen outreach programs and held the rank of sergeant.
In 2005, Hoffman was promoted as the third-ranking officer in the agency of 60 personnel. As chief of the jail division, he manages a 182-bed facility, $2.7 million budget and a division of 34 staff with an average annual revenue generated in excess of $1 million dollars.
Hoffman was a police officer and chief in Baxter, as well as having a brief appointment as a Jasper County deputy before being hired by Marshall County.