Sheriff won’t seek re-election

For 35 years Tom Williams has toiled in law enforcement. One more and he can relax.
Williams announced today that he would retire a year hence, when his second four-year term as Allen County sheriff concludes.
Williams’ law enforcement career began in Arkansas City, where he was a police officer for eight years. He retired from a 20 years as a special agent for the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, stationed much of that time in Iola, in 2004. In November 2004 he was elected sheriff. He was re-elected in 2008.
“The last seven years I’ve seen amazing changes for the better in the Allen County Law Enforcement Center,” Williams said. “I believe my staff and employees have created a highly respected, highly effective organization.
“They have done so not alone but with the help of other county departments and members of our community. The prospects of even more accomplishments are bright with a strong county attorney (Wade Bowie) in place.”
Williams said he set goals when first elected, which “the men and women in our department not only have met but exceeded.”
Specifically, he pointed to a successful correctional facility, which opened about the time he was first elected; improvement of professionalism of the department’s officers; better trust in the community of “how and why we do the things we do;” and a positive impact on narcotics in the county.
He said illegal drugs were a fact of life, but that efforts by his officers had curtailed both the use and sale in Allen County.
Williams said he was “very proud of having had an opportunity to serve Allen County as sheriff and I thank God every day for that honor. I hope my last year as sheriff will be very uneventful with the exception of sharing a cup of coffee with as many citizens as I can.”