Two familiar names vying for Sedgwick County Sheriff

When heading to the polls later this year, Sedgwick County voters will find two familiar names vying to be the Republican nominee for sheriff - Wichita Police veteran, Captain Jeff Easter and current sheriff, Bob Hinshaw.

"I think I've come up with some good ideas in my current career. I've implemented those ideas and I think it's time to take some of those ideas across the street to the Sedgwick County Sheriff's Department," explained Easter at press conference Tuesday morning.

Eyewitness News also sat down with Hinshaw on Tuesday. When asked about the race he said, "Hopefully between now and the August primary we will have plenty of opportunities to be in the same room, talking to a lot of different people about what all the office of sheriff is about, what we're mandated to do and how we're going to go about doing it in these tough economic times."

We wanted to know, what are the sheriff's responsibilities? And why is this race one you should care about?

For Fact Finder 12, we learned the sheriff oversees the responsibilities of the department - going far beyond just public safety. The sheriff's department runs the jail, maintains the county's sex offender registry and assists with mortgage foreclosure sales (just to name a few).

Both Easter and Hinshaw have extensive backgrounds in law enforcement and also with each other. Hinshaw says the two have already sat down and discussed the race.

"I've thought about doing this for quite some time. I think it's time someone new takes a look at the issues in Sedgwick County and the issues facing law enforcement in Sedwick County," said Easter.

Hinshaw adds, "Hopefully the sheriff's race, unlike many of the others, since Jeff and I know each other, and have for years, we'll be able to keep it on a much higher plain and I think we can."