-
1. Becoming Sheriff
- The University Press of Kentucky
- Chapter
- Additional Information
Chapter 1 BECOMING SHERIFF In this chapter sheriffs explain how and why they made the decision to seek election to office. Some came from law enforcement backgrounds— having previously been deputies, state troopers, and the like—but others did not. Some had never considered such a career but were talked into it by friends and colleagues who believed they would do an excellent job. In one amusing case detailed below, a would-be sheriff’s mom was asked her permission to allow her son to take on the dangerous position. Many of the accounts below describe how the sheriff’s job description has changed over the years, from a simpler time when training—if it was provided at all—was strictly on the job to today’s more complicated and demanding requirements due to cultural, economic, technological, and other critical changes. An unchanging theme over time, however, is the sheriffs’ motivation to take on the job; many speak of their desire to serve, to be dedicated, devoted law enforcement officials for the betterment of their community. Sheriff Peanuts I was nicknamed Peanuts after my daddy. He was a young man when he worked for a Greek whose vocabulary couldn’t say my daddy’s name, which was Emery. He called Daddy Emey. So one day Daddy was eating peanuts, and this fellow nicknamed him Peanuts, and it stuck with him the rest of his life. When my brother came along, he was never a little Peanut, but when I come along I was a little Peanut. And on my daddy’s tombstone is A. E. “Peanuts” Gaines. I got elected as sheriff in 1977, when Jimmy Carter was president. And he really raised peanuts! So we used the “Peanut” thing all during my campaign. It used to be that you couldn’t campaign within five 8 Tales from Kentucky Sheriffs hundred feet of polls here in Warren County. That means that you can’t pass out cards or any kind of literature. So Mr. Higgins, who owns all these Minit Marts, called me one day and said, “Peanuts, I’ve got an idea for Election Day. I’m going to get you five hundred pounds of peanuts, and you can give them to people and ask them to drop them when going to the polls.” At the time there were about fifty precincts, and five hundred pounds of peanuts in sacks would fill up a pickup truck’s bed, and we took them and gave them to everybody in every precinct, and they would drop them as they went into the polls. They would look down, and there would be the peanuts on the floor. Well, it was about three elections before they caught me doing that! We’ve used the peanut ever since then. We had a slogan back then that said, “It’s Harvest Time; Pick Peanuts for Sheriff.” Jack Witt painted me a big sign that had a drawing of a peanut man on it, and he wrote on there, “It’s Harvest Time; Pick Peanuts for Sheriff.” These days when I run for reelection, we write on there, “It’s Harvest Time Again; Pick Peanuts for Sheriff.” So we use the Peanut thing all through the campaign and on, and it’s been very successful. The other day, our new congressman, Brett Guthrie, was talking , and he said he ran into the vice president, Joe Biden. Biden asked Guthrie, “Do you know my buddy Peanuts?” Brett said, “Yeah, we’ve been friends for about twenty-two years.” Well, one day last week, Brett was in a reception, and Hillary Clinton came by. He introduced himself, and she said, “Do you know my buddy Peanuts?” Of course, I knew her and Bill Clinton, and I’ve got a picture of all of us hanging here on the wall, where I’ve got a picture of me and many other notables taken across the years. I got elected as sheriff in May 1977, then served until 1981 until I had to set out. I could not succeed myself as sheriff for four years. Then I came back and won again in 1985, and have been here ever since. So the Peanut thing and Peanut name has carried me on through the years. When I go to some events, they just put Peanuts on my name tag. If I’m here in the office when the telephone rings, I’ll pick up the telephone and say...