Retired Sioux County Sheriff Schwiesow Mounts Write-In Campaign For Sheriff’s Seat

Date posted - September 13, 2012

Orange City, Iowa — Retired sheriff, Jim R. Schwiesow has announced his write-in candidacy for the Office of Sheriff in the General Election of November 6, 2012.

Schwiesow pledges to return the office to its former efficiency and stature and to enhance access by the public to the services that it renders.

Schwiesow retired in 2005 after a forty-six year law enforcement career, which encompassed three years as a military policeman, fifteen years as a municipal police officer, and twenty-eight years as the duly elected Sheriff of Sioux County. In 1979 Schwiesow was honored as Iowa Sheriff of the year. During the final term of his tenure Schwiesow oversaw the construction of a new law enforcement center, which included administrative offices, a 187-bed jail, and a county-wide communications center. Upon completion of the construction of the facility Schwiesow entered into a contract to incarcerate federal inmates at a per diem rate; the proceeds of which have contributed greatly to the pay off of construction costs and to the annual operational costs of the jail.

Schwiesow states as the reason for his candidacy, “To restore the integrity of the office and make it more accessible to the Sioux County constituency, to ensure staff a cohesiveness that has been disrupted by a continuing series of unwarranted firings and dismissals, and to regain the former the rapidly slipping efficiency, stature, and prestige of the office statewide.”

In addition to his law-enforcement experience Schwiesow served by governor’s appointment for eight consecutive years on the Iowa Board of Corrections. Schwiesow would bring his considerable training and experience in both law-enforcement and corrections to the Sheriff’s Office. By his write-in candidacy Schwiesow endeavors to bring a non-partisan law-enforcement representation to Sioux County.