Three face off in primary for Liberty County Sheriff: Jim Hofer

Former Liberty County sheriff's deputy and undersheriff Jim Hofer is running in the Republican primary for Liberty County sheriff touting a return to "common-sense" policing as part of his platform, along with a promise to rebuild trust between the community and the department.

Hofer is running against former Deputy Sheriff Darbie Wentworth, as well as incumbent Nick Erickson.

Hofer said was born in Oregon but grew up in Liberty County after his family moved to the area when he was 1.

He said his family owned a local farm and ranch until his father died in 2002 and the place was sold. After that, he said, he moved to Alaska for 10 years before returning to Montana, spending a year in Chouteau County before moving back to Liberty County.

Hofer said he was a deputy with the Liberty County Sheriff's Department for more than eight years, including two-and-a-half as its undersheriff.

He said this experience is one of the reasons he's the best person for the job, one he believes incumbent Nick Erickson has not done a good job at.

He said he is dissatisfied with the department's leadership, Erickson especially, who he said fired him as a deputy after demoting him from undersheriff.

He said he was fired from the department in July of last year because he did not respond to a call from dispatch. He said the call in question involved a suspect in a vehicle who was possibly in the Liberty County area, but he was given next to no information when it came to the vehicle or the person driving it, even after he told the dispatcher he couldn't do anything with the information given.

He said he's been on plenty of dangerous calls over the years, but without a vehicle description, license plate number, name of the suspect or practically any idea of a location he had nothing to go on.

Hofer called his firing a witch hunt.

Wentworth said Hofer's description of the incident is accurate as far as she knows and agreed that his firing was improper.

Hofer said he believes leadership was threatened by him and was looking for any excuse to let him go, constantly questioning everything he did despite his having a solid record.

He said he has many issues with the way the office interacts with the public.

He said absolutely nothing has been done to build a relationship with the community and the excessive citations the department gives out for minor infractions like dirty license plates have created a great deal of mistrust between the department and the community.

Hofer said for the sheriffs to function effectively they need to ask the public for help and having people in the county resentful of the department is not going to help them when that time comes.

He said this is something he's heard from practically everyone he's interacted with while campaigning, many of them having their own reasons for not liking the department, or at least its current incarnation, and he wants to change that.

"I've got common sense," he said. "I know how to treat people right."

Hofer said he knows practically everyone in the community but even a great sheriff's office can't be everywhere at once, so having a community that's willing to work with them is critical, so he thinks the department needs to patrol more, in part to help build that relationship.

He also criticized the department for spending too much money, saying the current administration is overspending on technology they can get by without, or at least buy over a longer period of time so it doesn't disrupt budgets so dramatically.

He said he's a hard worker, knows how to spend money effectively and already has good relationships with people in the community

"I'm a pretty simple man," Hofer said. "I had a sheriff tell me one time, 'The only thing you need to do this job is a sharp pencil, a notebook, a good camera and common sense, and you can solve about any crime.' I still believe that."