Just when you think you’ve seen it all, a sitting sheriff intently running for re-election steps out of the race, and out of the office, effective on the same day he was supposed to be taking part in a political forum at the courthouse.
This isn’t the first time Cherokee County has faced challenges with a sheriff. Buying votes sent one sheriff to jail in the 1980s, and the State Bureau of Investigation spent more than three years looking into another sheriff in the 2000s. However, few people were surprised by the above, while everyone the Cherokee Scout has spoken with has been surprised with last week’s outcome.
Sheriff Dustin Smith stepped down Friday after receiving a scathing letter from District Attorney Ashley Welch. The letter mentioned alleged sins of commission – like the “Kloepfer shooting,” “evidence room catastrophe” and “tragic murder of Detention Officer (Francisco) Flattes – while also bringing up his sins of omission – like “inactions surrounding Sport Teasdale,” not following “the requests of judges to only bring a certain number of inmates to the courthouse at a time due to safety concerns” and “several instances where you have been willful or habitually negligent and/or refused to do your duties.”
In a statement, Smith said, “The next sheriff does not need to reinvent anything. They simply need to continue what has already been built,” but the DA’s letter doesn’t agree. “I also have grave concerns that the loss of confidence puts law enforcement at risk in an already very dangerous profession. … The lack of trust and confidence has the possibility to spread to the entire department and that is not fair. I see fear and very low morale in your department,” Welch wrote.
Smith’s faith in God was present in his statement, and when he wrote, “The past three years have taken a real toll – on my family, my wife, my son, my health and my personal relationships,” he was looking out for his family. In addition, multiple people who worked with Smith after Flattes’ tragic death told the Scout that the compassion and empathy he showed to his co-workers, and everybody else involved, was admirable.
That makes the former sheriff a good man. Unfortunately, while Smith can point to accomplishments over the last three years – like expanding the patrol division, strengthening K-9 coverage and forming a Sheriff’s Auxiliary Unit – not every good person is successful at work.
Smith was greeted only two weeks into his term with the atrocious SWAT shooting in Bear Paw, which has hung over his job performance like the Smoky Mountain fog. Flattes’ death revealed serious deficiencies in the office’s protocol. Too much money was spent buying things like a radio network with obvious deficiencies. And it feels like Teasdale, a top-notch law enforcement officer for many years, got thrown under the bus.
It would be challenging for any candidate to overcome all of that. Yet, Smith’s race in the March 3 Republican primary was still considered a toss-up.
While I hate to see any official, particularly an elected one, go out like this, Smith had ample warning from the DA just last year, yet he didn’t make any of the necessary changes to ease Welch’s concerns. “My oath of office and duty to the citizens of Cherokee County compel me to take this extraordinary action,” she wrote, “as much as it hurts.”
To his credit, Smith said any progress made during his time in office “does not belong to me. It belongs to the deputies, detention officers and staff who show up every day, who serve with integrity and who carried this office through some of the most difficult moments in its history. Any success during my term is a reflection of their dedication, resilience and commitment to this community.”
Welch did agree with that, saying, “You have several officers who are very good, work hard, are honest and do the right things for the right reasons.” Thankfully, those men and women are still at work today. So, despite this unfortunate chapter, the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office is still going to protect and serve local residents to their best of their ability until a new sheriff takes over.
David Brown is publisher of the Cherokee Scout. Call him at 828-837-5122 or email dbrown@cherokeescout.com.