Voters select James Crawford as county sheriff

COSHOCTON – The new sheriff of Coshocton County wants to focus on the War Against Drugs and community outreach, particularly in schools.

Here are the latest live results on national, state and city elections.

In unofficial vote totals from Tuesday’s general election, Republican James Crawford had 12,279 votes to 3,347 votes for independent Opah Lawson Jr. Crawford won the Republican nomination in the spring primary over current Sheriff Tim Rogers, who’s been sheriff since 2001.

Crawford, 55, was an administrative lieutenant for the sheriff’s office from 2001 until last fall, when he left the department to pursue a bid for sheriff. Lawson, 39, currently works as an officer for the Newcomerstown Police Department and was previously with the West Lafayette Police Department.

Both said they were running for office because Coshocton County was their home and they wanted to make it a better place by offering what they felt was needed change in the sheriff’s office. They also both felt their years of varied experience in law enforcement was a plus.

Crawford said he wants to focus on the continued drug problem and he feels that community outreach, particularly in the schools, can be a big part of that. He believes education and prevention is very important, which includes a strong presence in local school districts. That also ties into another goal of bringing back safety, security and education to students.

“My main goal, come January, is to really get the drug interdiction program going and make a significant impact on our drug issues. I know the deputies are ready to go to work and give it all they’ve got. We’re all on the same mission,” Crawford said. “I want to address drug issues at a younger age to discourage any future drug purchases or selling. Get that message out to our youngsters, they need to be educated earlier than adulthood.”

He also wants to pursue various treatment options for addicts in the Coshocton Justice Center.

“If we can get even a few of our already addicted individuals in the community off of the drugs, then that slows down the buying. If you slow down the demand, then that also helps to discourage any new drug dealers from coming into the community,” Crawford said.

Lawson said he’s young and won't rule out another run for sheriff. It would depend on where he is at and what the community is looking for at the time.

“I hope that (Crawford) does what he says he’s going to do and focuses on the issues and truly works with the community to make our community a better place,” Lawson said. “At this point, I’m going to continue on with what I’m doing and hopefully work with my community to make it better.”

llhayhur@coshoctontribune.com

@llhayhurst

740-295-3417

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