At left, Democratic candidate for Christian County sheriff, Ken Lovell speaks to one of his supporters at a fund-raising picnic held in McCauley Park in Nixa on July 2, 2015.
Ken Lovell isn't afraid to buck the Republican establishment in Christian County, Lovell, who believes that there "isn't anything wrong with making history," was chosen by the Christian County Democratic Central Committee to fill the position as sheriff vacated by Joey Kyle after Klyle pleaded guilty to embezzlement and aiding a fraud scheme. Kyle's term would have ended on December 31, 2016.
The Christian County Commission ordered a countywide special election to be held on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2015, amid criticism by many eligible voters that such a move would be unnecessarily costly. Christian County coroner Brad Cole had been chosen as interim sheriff but was replaced by former Sheriff Dwight McNiel. The law in Missouri states that a special election must be held within 10 weeks of the sheriff's position becoming vacant.
"There's no real professionalism in the sheriff's department," Lovell opined after noting that Republicans had held the position of sheriff for 81 years. He's ready to set policies that would return ethical conduct to the department. (It should be noted that McNiel isn't waiting for the results of the special election to make changes. Lack of first aid training, poor communication with municipal departments, inoperable fire extinguishers and other vital equipment in the department's vehicles and poor or not uniform crime reporting were just some of the issues McNiel already is addressing.)
Lovell, who has owned A Bit of Country K9 Kennel on Ozark Street in Nixa for the past 15-years, has a total of 18 years of law enforcement experience. He served as a member of the Nixa Police Department for almost half of that time, some of it as a resource officer.
Lovell and his wife have two grown children. One of them is a 9-11 dispatcher for the University of Washington Police Department. The other, a local Nixa firefighter, he said, has done a lot to further his candidacy.
Cole in what by many was considered an unduly short amount of time was selected by the Republican Central Committee as its candidate. This prompted Capt. Keith Mills of the Christian County Sheriffs Department to throw his hat in the ring. Ralph Phillips of Ozark, a retired U.S. Marshall and current private investigator, also had chosen to seek a nomination as an Independent after being displeased over how the Republican nominee had been selected.
When asked about his competition, specifically Mills, Lovell repeated how change was needed in the department. He also said that voters who met him at the recent Sertoma Duck Race in Ozark expressed their displeasure with the status quo.
"I'm Republican and I'm voting for you," they allegedly said.
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