Examining the Candidates for County Sheriff

Memphis, Tn - "We've done an outstanding job in bringing the organization to where it is today."

For the last eight years, Republican Bill Oldham has served under Sheriff Mark Luttrell as Chief Deputy Heading the Law Enforcement Division.

Back when he started, the Shelby County Jail was in trouble. Now the facility is Triple Crown accredited, making it one of the best in the country.

Oldham says keeping it that way is his priority as he pushes to become the next County Sheriff.

"Make sure never to let it slip back to where it once was. Make sure to provide training, the technology, and supervision to make sure we keep the jail safe, effective and humane," he says.

Another issue Oldham says he's committed to is bringing down the number of crimes committed by juveniles.

"I'm really concerned about juveniles involved in violent crime and want to work extremely hard as a law enforcement agency to address that."

Part of that will be taking a look at education in Shelby County.

"My focus will be to try and ID those programs of excellence and people of excellence that we can bring together at the table and put together a plan to address where we need to go."

Oldham says he also wants to stay on top of the latest crime fighting technology, and knows during these economic times, it means working smarter and sticking to a tight budget.

"We'll do all that we can to contain costs. We realize the financial condition of the county and understand it's probably not going to be possible for us to obtain additional funding."

Oldham, who has a combined 34 years experience, wants to be seen as a hometown guy.

He graduated from Catholic High and the University of Memphis. He got his start in law enforcement after graduating from the Memphis Police Academy and working his way up from Patrol Officer to Interim Director.

Following his retirement from MPD in 2000, Oldham has crossed the street to the Shelby County Sheriff's Office, filling his current administrative position.

Oldham's opponent, Democrat Randy Wade, has also worked among the top brass of the Sheriff's Office. He's even run for Sheriff before, losing a close race to Mark Luttrell in 2002.

"I started the first neighborhood watch in Shelby Forest," says Wade.

In his 25 years before retirement from the Sheriff's Office, Wade served as administrative assistant under 4 Sheriffs.

Wade is also a Navy Man. He graduated from Carver High School and went on to attend Shelby State and the University of Memphis.

He's currently on break during his campaign for Sheriff, but has been working in politics as Congressman Steve Cohen's Deputy Director.

"Regardless of how the election goes, god's been good to me."

His sights, if elected, are set on keeping jail accreditation, cutting down day to day jail costs, and sending an "education over incarceration message to fight recidivism.

"I would like to see billboards that say down with incarceration and up with education."

Wade's proposing using inmates to refurbish boarded up homes shut down by the District Attorney General in criminal cases as safe havens for at-risk kids.

"You can petition the county or city to get that house for a dollar a year and we'll call that a house a tutorial house. It's already in the target area, high crime area."

With early voting around the corner, both candidates say they have what it takes to be the County's top cop and will take an active stance on crime and community relations.