It has been an absolute honor and pleasure to serve the citizens of Jasper County as Sheriff the last seven years. The Jasper County Sheriff’s Office continues to strive to move forward, providing consistent and quality service to the citizens we serve. While we have faced many challenges, our team continues to work together utilizing sound and proven techniques and innovative ideas.
I have been fortunate to be a part of a great team of individuals who work together internally and with many other resources to get the best outcomes. We have accomplished many objectives and improvements including technology, staffing levels, safety and equipment, mental health training and resources, communications and medical care, to name a few. We are continually planning in order to stay ahead of developing trends, and to address future needs. Many of these projects are fluid and will continue to develop and strengthen over the next several years.
It is my intention to seek re-election as Jasper County Sheriff in 2020. We still have work to do. We don’t always get it right. We face many challenges in the future. We intend to continue to develop sources of revenue such as inmate housing in our jail for other counties. We are also currently working on additional resources to assist our own team members, to include critical incident debriefing and selfcare. We recently formed the Central Iowa Regional Tactical Team with the communities of Grinnell and Pella. We continue to partner with resources to develop strategies for assisting our mental health and substance abuse issues. Jasper County Information Technology (IT) has daily challenges of providing the best updated services while protecting our system from malware and other attacks. We will continue to work together to minimize the potential for these attacks, while protecting information. We will work with Jasper County Emergency Management, and our local Police, Fire and EMS services to provide proper response to calls, and to plan and prepare for major events. Finally we will continue to seek input from our citizens, working together to address county needs and concerns.
I would also take this opportunity to endorse Jasper County Auditor Dennis Parrot in his bid for re-election. Dennis and his office have been a tremendous resource and help in the administration of duties and projects at the sheriff’s office.
John R. Halferty
Jasper County Sheriff