Wilson shares ideas to save Latah County money if elected as sheriff

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LATAH COUNTY - Citizens of Latah County will decide if they want to elect a new sheriff or continue to back the current one in November.

Democrat Keith Wilson is running against incumbent Wayne Rausch, and Wilson said there are two main issues that he would address if elected. He wants to reduce the sheriff's budget in order to save the taxpayers money, and fix the radio system for emergency responders in rural areas of Latah County.

"I've talked to them all, and they're really concerned about the safety of the citizens because they have no reception out in the area and they're going back to using mostly their cell phones," said Wilson.

Currently, most of the Sheriff's Office training is done outside of Latah County, and this is another thing Wilson would like to change. Wilson said that creating in-house training programs will retain deputies for longer periods of time and create a stronger department. He also supports the idea of using smaller, more efficient vehicles and getting rid of the outdated ones that are not used as often. Wilson lives in Deary and has been a sheriff's deputy for 26 years.