{"id":9340,"date":"2016-11-18T17:23:48","date_gmt":"2016-11-18T17:23:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/idsunmedia.com\/?p=9340"},"modified":"2016-11-18T17:23:48","modified_gmt":"2016-11-18T17:23:48","slug":"theres-a-new-sheriff-in-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2016\/11\/18\/theres-a-new-sheriff-in-town\/","title":{"rendered":"There\u2019s a new sheriff in town"},"content":{"rendered":"

Harkins earns promotion through election<\/i><\/span><\/h2>\n

By DANA DUGAN<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Steve
Steve Harkins will be sworn in on Jan. 9, 2017, as the new Blaine County Sheriff. Photo courtesy of Blaine County Sheriff\u2019s Office<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T<\/span>here\u2019s a new sheriff in town. Steve Harkins, 43, became the sheriff-elect for Blaine County following the General Election on Nov. 8. He will replace current sheriff Gene Ramsey on Jan. 9, 2017. Harkins ran unopposed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a tough race,\u201d he said, laughing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Harkins has served under Sheriff Ramsey for 18 years, with the last two as Ramsey\u2019s chief deputy.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have witnessed his service and dedication firsthand, on a daily basis,\u201d Harkins said of his mentor. <\/span><\/p>\n

Harkins moved to the Wood River Valley in 1992, where he began his career in law enforcement with the Hailey Police Department as a patrol officer.\u00a0In 1998, he was hired by the Blaine County Sheriff\u2019s Office as a detective. In 2009, he was promoted to chief of the Ketchum Police Department.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was during my time at Ketchum that I learned how to effectively manage a department while maintaining fiscal restraint and accountability,\u201d Harkins said. <\/span><\/p>\n

In early 2014, Ramsey appointed Harkins to be the chief deputy, providing further leadership experience and the ability to watch and work closely with Sheriff Ramsey. Harkins has earned advanced, management, and master certifications from the State of Idaho Peace Officer Standards and Training Council, and graduated from the FBI Executive Command College with more than 2,000 hours of specialized law enforcement training. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI am truly honored to have been elected as the next sheriff of Blaine County and will follow in the honorable tradition of those who have served our community as sheriff since 1864,\u201d Harkins said in a statement. \u201cI promise to work hard to earn your trust. I will seek to provide the highest standard of leadership for the best interest of our citizens and visitors.\u00a0With the help and input from my dedicated staff, we will continue to provide and improve the level of law enforcement you expect and deserve. As your future sheriff, I will always be accessible for any questions or concerns the public may have, with a focus on transparency and honesty.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Originally from Kimberly, Harkins lives in Hailey with his wife, Lisa Thilmont, a teacher at Hailey Elementary School, and their daughter, a student a Wood River High School.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI can think of no better place in the world to call home,\u201d Harkins said. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Harkins earns promotion through election By DANA DUGAN There\u2019s a new sheriff in town. Steve Harkins, 43, became the sheriff-elect for Blaine County following the General Election on Nov. 8. He will replace current sheriff Gene Ramsey on Jan. 9, 2017. Harkins ran unopposed. \u201cIt was a tough race,\u201d he said, laughing. Harkins has served […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9341,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[75,18,36],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9340","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-elections","8":"category-news","9":"category-slider"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9340\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}