The 35-member lodge represents law enforcement officials across Montezuma, LaPlata and Archuleta counties. Lodge president Geary Parsons said several members had worked with challenger Nowlin and incumbent Dennis Spruell.<\/p>\n
\u201cSteve Nowlin was voted on for Montezuma County,\u201d Parsons said. \u201cThe members liked him more.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really humbled,\u201d said Nowlin. \u201cI know that if I\u2019m elected, I have to earn their respect. I have to work for them, and I will.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Fraternal Order of Police is made up of full-time employed law-enforcement officers.<\/p>\n
During the 2010 sheriff\u2019s race, the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge in Durango didn\u2019t endorse a Montezuma sheriff\u2019s candidate.<\/p>\n
Montezuma County Sheriff Dennis Spruell dismissed the endorsement, saying that Parsons told him that he didn\u2019t know Nowlin.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey needed to nominate somebody, so a member said Steve Nowlin,\u201d said Spruell, who seeks a second term in office. \u201cSo that was that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Outlining several \u201cvisible mistakes\u201d that have added up under Spruell\u2019s administration, The Cortez Journal on Friday also endorsed Nowlin.<\/p>\n
Asked his thoughts on the public-corruption charges that led Spruell\u2019s former undersheriff to a 30-day jail sentence, Nowlin said he\u2019d like to review the details of the case first, saying, \u201cI was not involved in that investigation at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nowlin added that he\u2019d have handled the public corruptions probe differently.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would definitely have known where every dime was being spent,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Asked if he\u2019d selected a potential undersheriff, Nowlin said he wouldn\u2019t make that decision until being elected. A handful of people have expressed an interest in serving as his second in command, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey will have to meet the qualifications that are set, and we will go from there,\u201d said Nowlin. \u201cA full background, probably a polygraph, psychological and a review panel. We want the best and brightest to serve here in Montezuma County.<\/p>\n
Nowlin said his top agenda item would be to restore both the public and employee trust in the sheriff\u2019s office, adding he would not clean house in the department.<\/p>\n