DARLINGTON — When voters go to the polls this fall, they will be choosing a new Lafayette County Sheriff, as current Sheriff Reg Gill has announced he will be retiring at the end of this term.

“It is time for some new blood,” Gill said after the Grant County Law Enforcement Committee meeting Tuesday. “My personal opinion is it is a job no one shouldn’t do too long.”

This year will wrap up Gill’s 12th year as sheriff, and complete a 27-year career in law enforcement. “If I went one more term, it would be one term too long,” Gill said, adding that he does not want to serve a partial term and retire midway through.

“I don’t like the idea of that,” Gill stated. “Let the voters make the decision, not the governor appointing.”

Gill filed his paperwork Jan. 22, giving potential candidates time to make a decision and handle the filing paperwork by the June 1 deadline.

Shullsburg Police Chief Josh Jerry has announced his candidacy for the post.

It will be a sea change for the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office in 2027, as during the meeting Gill intimated that two other senior members of the department are also looking to retire within the next year.

Gill stated he is not worried about the changes at the top of the department. “We have a lot of very good, talented people here,” on changes in leadership.

Instead, it is who replaces the entry roles as people move up the ladder that he is worried about.

“I am more concerned with backfilling the other positions,” Gill continued. “It is tougher and tougher to find people.”

Right now the department has two positions open. There is relief expected for those positions, as Lafayette County has two people in the police academy, but finding more people to sign up and train will be a challenge for the next sheriff.

“How are they going to bring in new people, because it’s a challenge nationwide,” Gill remarked.

For the past 15 years, fewer people are getting into public jobs, be it law enforcement or education or other sectors like public works.

In law enforcement, departments have had to recruit individuals, sponsor them through the law enforcement academy, and hope that they do not quickly jump to other jobs for higher pay.

“It places a strain on the department,” Gill said of covering individuals to go through the academy, while also filling the hours on their roster to cover the county.

The law enforcement committee discussed a number of topics at its most recent meeting.

The committee reviewed a proposal from a family who wished to pay for the striping for one of the new squad vehicles the department is getting this year. The striping would be themed for mental health and suicide awareness, as the family had lost a loved one to suicide.

Themed squad vehicles are not a new thing in southwest Wisconsin - Iowa County has a similar truck, while Grant County has a squad about autism.

The vehicle would have green striping, which is the color for mental health awareness, and have other items like a QR code people could scan to show them locations of information and resources dealing with mental health.

“They thought this would be a good way to reach out,” Gill said.

That vehicle could also be used in parades or other community functions so that information would be seen by more people.

“It’s not for the person in crisis, but a person who may know someone who is in crisis,” Theresa Burgess, Emergency Management Director added.

The committee also reviewed and approved $9,909 for the purchase of a new drone for the department. The drone, which is used for a number of items, from missing person searches (due to having a thermal camera) to getting overhead accident photos to tactical events. It replaces the current drone which had been damaged after a signal was lost during training.

Because of the age of that drone, the cost of repairing was inching towards the same cost as a new drone.

Committee member Luke McGuire warned that getting parts for the drone may be more difficult in future years, as the Trump Administration is looking to block all sales of foreign-made drones in the United States, concerned that devices made  by Chinese firms are relaying mapping data of the country back. The efforts are also to jump start American manufacturing of components and drones.