Upon seeing the announcement of his run for sheriff in The Democrat on Jan. 27, I met with Constable Adam Kirk, whom I had not known previously.

I will say here only that:

1. It is well-known that the office of sheriff is highly important to the public interest in several respects.

2. The qualifications of the person in charge are therefore of great importance. Those qualifications include strong leadership toward having an office totally free of any personal or political bias; always conscious of efficiency and costs; and focused upon enforcement of the law under proper procedure, regardless of the identities of persons involved.

3. In order to exercise effective leadership, our sheriff must have a background of both “classroom” and “field” training, and real, on-the-job experience.

4. Paramount is an intelligent understanding by the sheriff that the public interest can only be properly served by a firm, unprejudiced adherence to rule of law and that all citizens must be treated with total respect for our fundamental constitutional rights as American citizens.

5. The candidates understands that, while the sheriff reports to the board of supervisors and works closely with the board, his duty is to the public which elected him; and if he has good reason to believe the board is operating in violation of state law, he has a duty to immediately take effective exception.

6. He understands that if a citizen reports to the office of the sheriff that something which is or may be illegal is occurring, he will take immediate, appropriate action. In short, I am convinced that this candidate understands how the office of sheriff must function and that he will see that it does.

In summary, conscientious, knowledgeable and diligent performance without bias is what we pay for and deserve as citizens. I find Kirk to be unusually qualified in all respects. Additionally, he is young and personally impressive and without any prejudice. I urge all to read The Democrat article of Sunday, Jan. 27.

Lynn Wirtz

Adams County resident