R ick Meyer will serve as the next Jackson County sheriff after voters selected the Seymour Republican for the office in a landslide during Tuesday’s general election.

Meyer, 48, defeated Democrat Jeff Walters with 64.43 percent of the vote, capturing 9,407 votes to Walters’ 5,194.

Meyer said he was honored to be selected as the county’s next top law enforcement official.

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“I’m excited for all the people that helped me out in this long process and this campaign,” he said. “I’ve shared my ideas and excited to continue with the things I’ve been talking about and go from there.”

Meyer said Election Day was a long day but worth it. He said he spent the day traveling throughout the county at various polling locations.

Meyer thanked supporters for their work throughout the campaign.

“I had a lot of people work with me to help me and go knock on doors,” he said.

Meyer’s election will begin a new era at the department, as he will succeed Jackson County Sheriff Mike Carothers, who served two terms after he was elected in 2010 and 2014. Carothers was barred by term limits.

As sheriff, Meyer will oversee the department with more than 50 employees serving on patrol, the jail and dispatch. The 2019 budget for the department is $2,039,215.

Meyer won the race after he emerged as the Republican nominee of a highly contested primary between four candidates, defeating challengers Bill Abbott, Charlie Murphy and Phil Nale in a landslide with just more than 50 percent of the vote.

Meyer started at the department in 2000 as a reserve deputy and was then hired in 2007 as a full-time officer. He was shot twice in the line of duty May 8, 2014, while responding to a report of a suspicious person in Tampico.

Meyer’s victory will ensure the local Republican party will control the sheriff’s office for at least 12 years. The last Democrat elected to the office was Marc Lahrman in 2006.

Walters said the campaign was a lot of work and thanked his supporters for their effort.

“One person can’t do this by themselves, and it takes a lot of people,” he said. “I had a lot of support, and everything will be fine.”

Meyer thanked Walters for running a clean campaign and acknowledged he worked hard throughout the process, too.

“He ran a good campaign,” he said. “We both ran clean campaigns, and I think that was refreshing to people locally, considering how a lot of the state races were run.”

The election also brought an end to a lengthy campaign cycle that began in the days leading up to the 2017 Jackson County Fair when candidates began announcing.

Now that the campaign is over, Meyer said it is time to begin governing.

He outlined priorities as easing the county’s drug problem, establishing working relationships with other officials, providing solutions for jail overcrowding and starting the first K-9 unit.

Meyer said he looks forward to serving as the county’s next sheriff.

“I’m looking forward to serving the people because we have a lot of good people in this community, and I want to be someone they can come to,” he said, adding he plans to hit the ground running. “I’m ready to put a team together, talk to everyone at the sheriff’s department and find out what everyone’s goals are.”

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Jackson County Sheriff results

Rick Meyer (R) 9,407

Jeff Walters (D) 5,194

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