Dukes Files For Re-Election As SheriffKyle Dukes filed Wednesday to seek re-election as Kosciusko County sheriff, highlighting his accomplishments in his first three years of service – specifically the Jail Chemical Addiction Program (JCAP) and Narcotics Enforcement Team (NET 43) – during an impromptu press conference afterward.
He also provided a news release about his candidacy prior to him filing at the county clerk’s office. The press release states, in part, one of his top priorities as sheriff was to bring all law enforcement back together in a working relationship and that’s been done; Kosciusko’s JCAP is the No. 1 program in the state with a 59% success rate; he helped create a multi-agency drug task force, known as NET 43; he created a full-time training sergeant and made it a priority to provide specialized training; created a full-time public information officer to offer transparency to the public; and significantly reduced the jail population by working closely with Community Corrections, Work Release and Probation.
Asked about his next set of goals if he is re-elected, Dukes said, “I think that, how do we expand and make JCAP even more part of the community? How do we get 59% up to 65%, 70%? We’ve had some awesome, very gracious donations come in. So when the community supports the program and you start receiving money, we are now looking at Grace College, we’re looking at Ivy Tech on how to bring in some of those classes and get some certifications and college courses. So, definitely expanding JCAP would be definitely something we’re going to look at.”
When asked if there was something he wasn’t able to accomplish in his first term, Dukes said when he came into office Jan. 1, 2019, the “number one priority was to bring back law enforcement into a working relationship, and we’ve done that. We are a team, we’re working as a team, we’re communicating. And when law enforcement does that, people in their community win.”
He said looking at all of his department’s accomplishments, they’ve been working “very hard.”
“You look at NET 43 and what they’ve done, what they’ve accomplished in a multi-agency drug task force and, again, that team approach. That putting community first,” Dukes said. “You look at work release and the new direction that we’re taking there. So that was an accomplishment.”
He said he was proud of everything he and his department got done in three years.
Dukes said meth is definitely an issue in the county, and law enforcement’s job is to put together an investigation and hand it over to the prosecutor.
“We’re focusing on meth and heroin. It is definitely meth and heroin that is an issue here in Kosciusko County, in all of the counties,” he said. “So, you just got to do your job and know that what we’re doing is for the betterment of Kosciusko County. How I look at it is: One life at a time. Let’s just focus and if we can change that cycle and break that cycle, and sometimes incarceration is where it starts, and ends with JCAP.”
Dukes said he strongly believes in mental health.
“So, I’m proud that when I came in we switched medical companies, one with quality correctional care and one of the services that they provided, one of the big reasons was the mental health. So this is the first time that the Kosciusko County Jail has had 40 hours of mental health services for the incarcerated inmate and that he spends a lot of time in the JCAP family, too,” Dukes said.
One day a month, a mental health expert comes in to the sheriff’s department and is available to the employees for any reason.
“Expanding on that, I created a deputy sheriff wives, or significant others, mental health night one day a month also. Because we’re finding out the deputy sheriff, his wife, (also has) the same concerns, issues as the third deputy sheriff,” Dukes said.
He said that group has gotten tight.
“I’m proud of the jail. We have 26 jail officers. And one thing that I am extremely proud about is when I came into office, I inherited a jail with 334 people in it. Legally, it holds 294. And working closely with Community Corrections, Probation, Work Release, we’re sitting at right now 237. We average 248 people incarcerated. So we were able to bring that number down. It’s a huge win,” Dukes said.
The Sheriff’s Office does have a couple programs to reach people, specifically youth, before engaging activities that could result in prison time for them. Dukes pointed out to the DARE program and school resource officers.
“Another thing was the creation of a full-time public information officer. Sgt. Chris Francis is in our schools every other week doing programs and earning that relationship and (being a) positive role model and spreading that message,” Dukes said.
The county has spent some money on repairs to the twenty-something-years-old jail over the last few years, including a sprinkler system. Dukes used commissary money to replace items like furniture and carpets. But don’t expect him to advocate for a new or expanded jail any time soon.
“As far as building a new jail, absolutely not. We’ve gotten this population down and feel comfortable with, again, we’re at 237 today. I feel good,” he said.
Other sheriffs have approached him about housing other inmates, and Dukes said he has said “no” to that.
“Because when you have six jail officers per shift, what we noticed was that extra 30, 40 or 50 people, when you take that off, it reduces a lot of stress and a lot off their plates,” Dukes said.
Dukes graduated from East Noble High School in 1995, according to the news release. He earned an associate’s degree in supervision from Ivy Tech State College and a bachelor’s degree in business management from Tri-State University. He started his law enforcement career as a reserve deputy for the Noble County Sheriff’s Office in 1998. In December 2000, Dukes graduated from the Indiana State Police Recruit School and went on to serve Kosciusko and Elkhart counties as a trooper for 18 years. On Jan. 1, 2019, he took office as sheriff of Kosciusko County.
He faces KCSO deputy James “Jim” Smith in the May Republican primary. Smith officially filed Jan. 5.
“The Sheriff’s Office has worked extremely hard to be a positive force in our community. I am proud of the accomplishments we have achieved over the last several years and am eager to continue the programs I have implemented as sheriff as we remain focused on putting community first,” Dukes’ news release concludes.
