Charlotte County residents will decide Tuesday whether or not to re-elect their current sheriff, Rep. Bill Prummell. He’s completing his first term. Prummell is being challenged by local Dem. Jim Melo.
Melo was with the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office for more than a decade, starting as a deputy and ending as a captain in 2003. He’s now retired.
He wants to run against the current sheriff, Bill Prummell, because he said he does not agree with how the sheriff handled five inmate deaths in the county jail. Melo said the sheriff cleared the cases without calling on any outside investigators.
"So, I think the biggest problem is having that transparency and not being afraid to be told that we may have done something wrong and be a responsible and mature leader and correct it," said Melo.
But Sheriff Prummell said his office is already transparent. He said all five internal investigations are public record, and they were submitted to the state attorney’s office with no challenges.
Two of those deaths were suicides. And Prummell said the other three inmates had medical conditions that were masked by drug addictions. So if re-elected, he said his focus will be to better train his deputies on people suffering from mental health and addiction issues.
"If we can divert them to some place other than the jail, and we're really trying to work on doing that to get them the help they need, rather than put them in the jail," said Prummell.
NPA Edward Pope is also running against Prummell. Pope did not respond to multiple interview requests. Charlotte County voters will choose their next sheriff Tuesday.
