Three face off in primary for Liberty County Sheriff: Darbie Wentworth

Darbie Wentworth, a former Liberty County sheriff’s deputy, is running in the Republican primary for the position of Liberty County sheriff on a platform of community policing and greater transparency within a department she believes is in desperate need of new leadership.

Wentworth is running against former Undersheriff Jim Hofer, who was demoted to deputy and later fired, and Sheriff Nick Erickson.

Wentworth said she moved to Liberty County just over a year ago and joined the Liberty County Sheriff’s department after being an officer in Arizona.

She said she’s always wanted to do police work, but when she was younger there was a height requirement for being an officer, so she worked in day care and health care commercial real estate, running her own business until her children became independent enough that she could start doing what she’s always wanted.

After some time as an officer in Arizona she moved to Liberty County because she and her husband loved the area so much, she said.

“We plan to spend the rest of our lives here,” she said.

Wentworth said she was a deputy only for a few months before she was fired, but she saw a department that was not engaging with the community, but was fostering a lack of trust between the department and the people it serves.

“We are way too reactive, we need to be proactive,” she said.

Wentworth said she met with Liberty County Attorney Robert Padmos to try to have her firing changed to a resignation and said he and the county commissioners were receptive to the request.

Padmos said Wentworth did make that request but did not do some followups of her own that were requested so the change was never made.

Wentworth said she wants a proactive office with officers doing things like providing education on drugs and human trafficking.

She said the community has been presented an overly dire vision of what is going on in the area, such as being given the impression the drug crisis is far worse than it actually is.

“(Fearmongering) might be a little strong, but more or less that’s what’s happening,” she said. “People are looking around and always suspicious and always not at ease.”

She said releasing more data on the calls received and the work the office does could provide more accurate picture of what is actually going on in the community.

Wentworth said she’s seen instances of impropriety like residents being pressured to press charges when they would rather not see an incident come to legal action.

In her own case, she said, she had a falling out with Erickson when she was asked to fill out a report in a way she thought depicted a situation inaccurately and refused to do as she was asked.

She said the current leadership needs to change, and said community members including those who asked her to run for sheriff agree.

“Law enforcement is 95 percent customer service and 5 percent enforcing the law,” she said. “The most valuable asset any department has is the trust of the community.”

She did criticize her other opponent, former Liberty County deputy and undersheriff Jim Hofer, whom she said she had a mixed opinion of.

She said she thinks Hofer’s firing was completely improper, but does not think he is The best candidate for sheriff, though under better leadership and with more guidance he would be a excellent addition to the office.

Wentworth said they could use a beat system so officers really get to know their areas and the people in them.

She also said she will adhere to the Constitution and understands the difference between the spirit and the letter of the law, and between civil and police matters.

“I will steadfastly utilize the spirit of the law, mixed with solid fact finding to add merit and justifications to all cases,” she said.