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New Benton County Sheriff Makes Command Staff Changes

BENTONVILLE (KFSM) – A lot has changed at the Benton County Sheriff’s Office since an interim sheriff was sworn in on April 28. Sheriff Meyer Gilber...

BENTONVILLE (KFSM) - A lot has changed at the Benton County Sheriff's Office since an interim sheriff was sworn in on April 28.

Sheriff Meyer Gilbert, the man who officially replaced Kelley Cradduck at the helm of the office, has worked in law enforcement for more than 20 years in Mississippi. He said he's hoping to put that experience to use in Benton County.

"We're trying to get the morale built up," said Gilbert. "Trying to get people to want to come to work and a smile on their face and get back in that mode of serving the citizens of Benton County."

When former Sheriff Kelley Cradduck resigned, Gilbert said he was encouraged to look into filling the role.

"This department is filled with lots of talent," said Gilbert. "It is filled with lots of resources, and we're going to start to use that talent and utilized those resources in house, and you`ll see a big change in the sheriff's office."

In his first three days since being sworn in, Gilbert said he made several changes in command staff, namely appointing sheriff candidate Shawn Holloway to chief deputy.

"We've assembled a command staff," he continued. "We've made some changes under the command staff and we'll continue to make some slight changes and tweak things as we go."

Other personnel changes included:

  • Promoting Jeremy Guyll to major of administration and the jail
  • Adding Robert Bersi as Major of Operations (formally of Springdale Police Department)
  • Reassigning R.L. Conner as Detective II in the Criminal Investigation Division
  • Reassigning Lynn Hahn to captain of the jail
  • Reassigning Charlie Robbins to sergeant of narcotics
  • Reassigning Kenny Paul as captain of the Special Operations Division
  • Reassigning Adam Howard as captain of the Criminal Investigation Division
  • Reassigning Harold Gage as lieutenant over administration

The new sheriff also said he also wanted to build stronger relationships with police departments in Benton County, after the Bentonville and Rogers Police chiefs expressed concerns about deputies being reckless during pursuits and sting operations.

"We'll meet with these chiefs to get our relationships started and get some things in the works for working together as departments," said Gilbert. "Working on the issues that need to be handled."

When Gilbert hands the reigns over to an elected sheriff, he said he's hoping for a smooth transition come Jan. 1, 2017.

"We do not want any stress on employees," Gilbert said. "We want everything set in place so when the seat changes, the sheriff will just go on about his duties."

5NEWS reached out Bentonville Police Chief Jon Simpson and Rogers Police Chief Hayes Minor about their meetings with Sheriff Gilbert on Wednesday (May 5).

Simpson called it "a great meeting," and said, "The new sheriff and his command staff also attended an evening shift briefing and met some of our officers. We can be confident we are on the right track now."

Minor said, "Our meeting with Sheriff Gilbert went very well. I look forward to working with him to rebuild the relationship between our agencies."

Chief Deputy Shawn Holloway is running as a republican against independent candidate Glenn Latham in the November general election. The winner will take over as sheriff on Jan. 1.

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