Hart and Herbert agree on one issue-- retaining employees. Hart says if elected, he will modernize and establish a recruiting program. That will help the sheriff's office fill eight vacancies in corrections.
Hart says, "We will use the necessary resources to hire qualified applicants as quickly as possible to bring the staffing levels up. This will in turn help with employee burn out, fatigue, overtime issues, sick leave issues, and things of that nature."
Hart also wants to address issues in the jail, such as offering mental health services and home monitoring.
His Democratic opponent, Herbert would take a different approach to recidivism with education, by re-establishing the GED program and offering job assistance.
"We have a County Jail full of people that just want second chances. I'm not talking about temp agencies, I'm talking about good paying jobs. There's houses that need to be built, there's roads that need to be built, and bridges. We have people who just want that second chance, and just want that good paying job." says Herbert.
Both democratic candidates currently work for the Rock Island County Sheriff's Department.
Early voting for the primary has already begun, and Election Day is June 28th.
Current Sheriff Gerry Bustos is not running for another term.
