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Herb Lightner: Seeks 6th term
BY ANNE ADAMS • STAFF WRITER
MONTEREY - After being elected the youngest sheriff in Virginia nearly 20 years ago at the age of 27, incumbent Highland County Sheriff Herb Lightner will seek his sixth consecutive four-year term as top law enforcement officer in the state's most rural community.
A lot has changed over his tenure, but Lightner still enjoys what he does and is prepared, now at 48, to serve again if elected this November. "I like the job," he said. "I like to help people."
Lightner has had competition for his job before, and this year he faces one other candidate, Tim Duff of Mill Gap, but he remains confident, and is pleased he and Duff are handling the competitive nature of the elections with professionalism and candor. "This election has been better than previous ones so far," he said. "It's not been mud-slinging, no criticism or arguing. It's just been more pleasant so far."
Though he's only two years from qualifying for his full state retirement, Lightner wants to finish things his department has started before he considers leaving office and he feels his experience will win over voters.
"If you read what (Duff) has said, that he's done, you have to analyze what his alleged experience is. In my opinion, he has no experience whatsoever except in the education field. I'm confident, educated, and qualified to be sheriff. And I wouldn't be qualified to be a Coast Guard officer. There's just so much of a difference there - being a warrant officer and being a sheriff," he said. "Once you choose a career, the purpose of choosing a career is so that you could retire and, in time, you won't have to worry about future prospects. I was a lot shorter (of retirement age) last time - six years. Now I'm only short two, with my age. I'm eligible to retire now except for my age. I don't feel the dire necessity like I did the last time."
Lightner maintains it would be costly to bring a new sheriff up to his level of training. "A new sheriff would require considerable training and cost, without going into details, (which) would amount to well over $50,000 and take over two years, to bring a new sheriff without current certification to a satisfactory functioning level," Lightner notes in his campaign. "Highland tax dollars alone would run $20,000-plus just for lodging, uniforms, equipment, and meals during the training."
Lightner says he wants to finish what he's started. "I've got projects nearly complete - the E-911 center, the repeater site on Allegheny Mountain, finishing the renovations connected to the 911 center," he said.
Lightner cites his decades of experience as the No. 1 reason voters should consider him for office again. "I'm qualified - certified not only in law enforcement but in all the areas of responsibility: in court, civil process, dispatch. Out of 134 sheriffs in the state of Virginia, my seniority is No. 10. That's longevity. I know most of the sheriffs in the state on a first name basis; I have a lot of resources that would benefit the community, already established connections. Regardless of what some people might say, I've got a pretty good outfit here - I don't have any written complaints, although I might get criticized occasionally and I take the criticism well, use it to make a better sheriff's operation. I listen to people and I'm able to take what they say and use it to the benefit of improving the department."
Lightner's trademark, soft-spoken style reflects his calm demeanor, but he describes himself as an introvert who finds it hard to compete in the political arena - his least favorite aspect of the job. But on the job, he said, "I'm pretty much hands-on, every situation, 365 days, 24 hours a day."
As sheriff, he said his deputies keep him abreast of situations that occur when he's out of town for training. "On the major issues, I'm there either there personally, or they make me aware of a situation in briefing," he said. "I may not be there that day, it may be the next day since I have to work around the shifts, but I have dependable, reliable employees. Discipline is very rarely an issue. If it is, I have a policy in place that addresses the severity of the infraction and the situation. I follow policy. Every issue that's a disciplinary action, I address promptly."
Lightner notes his shy personality trait often means he gets involved whenever asked, even if he doesn't have the time. "If I had to say it, lots of times I am way overcommitted. It's hard for me to say, 'No.' And being a politician - I don't like politics," he said.
New dispatching service
Lightner is particularly proud of the new emergency system he helped coordinate in Highland, and said it's made his job easier. The Enhanced-911 system, which was mandated by the state in every locality, got up and running a few months ago. Sophisticated technology makes it possible for sheriff's dispatchers to know the precise location of people who call for help, even if they don't know where they are. Lightner said it's already making a difference. Given the number of calls through his office, he said, "It's quite handy knowing (who's calling) before you even answer the phone." The office phones can be distracting sometimes, he said, but now the system has streamlined calls.
Lightner recalled two times recently, before the system was in place, when his dispatchers didn't know the person calling for assistance. "We got lucky and figured it out. They were strangers to the area, staying with a family member and didn't know the address - one time you could hear a person in the background breathing but couldn't communicate."
Lightner said he understands citizens' concerns about the challenges involved in switching to the new system. "I've had some complaints. Yes, it's a pain to change addresses, and they get more complicated bills, but we we're on a waiver. The state said you're going to have to do it some time, and they paid for it, all but the bricks and mortars; and I think (the state) contributed something like $800,000."
Lightner said he plans to operate the system with the five dispatchers he already has on staff. But down the road, he said, he's been told as the equipment ages it may be necessary to hire someone to oversee the system.
For managing complaints and reaching those in need quickly, Lightner said the system works effectively. "With the 911 system, every call that comes in, you can know the calls that came in. Before, if dispatcher didn't write it down, I didn't know. Now it's not an option. It will show you called, show what you said, even record it. I can go back and listen to what was said or told, know how many times the phone rang before it was answered. Administratively, they designed it for a supervisor or sheriff to make it easy on them. If you call and say the phone rang 20 times and they never answered, I can go back and play it and see what was said."
Lightner said he had one complaint in recent months from someone who said it took too long to get a dispatcher to answer, and he found it easy to check.
Sheriff's office experience
Lightner has a seasoned staff; one deputy has been on the job about 18 years. The newest deputy has been on duty more than 18 months. The six deputies and five dispatchers plus auxiliary staff make up some 200 total years of experience, Lightner said. "The only thing I foresee possible in the future (in adding staff) is that I've been told that at some point you'll probably have to have a 911 coordinator. So far, I haven't seen the need for that."
And, he said, his office is adequately funded. "Of course you could always use more (money), but the county's been very good to me and I haven't asked for things I don't need. I have a wish list - it would be nice to have this or that - but we have the funding to do the things requested of us," he said. "Generally, the (state) compensation board funds our office - employees, some fringe benefits, some office expenses but nowhere near adequate (in that particular cost). Our phone bills are way more than they give us. Our funding includes $12,000 for office expenses and vehicle maintenance but it's nowhere close. It costs about $18,000 a year just to keep in gas and tires and maintenance," he said.
"Once in a while (the state) will throw in something they want you to do. For example, if I had more manpower, then I could get a raise for myself, but the way it is now I don't have time; I don't have a staff big enough to do (what it would take). I could get a $10,000 raise if I was accred ited (for my operating manual), but my manual mirrors what they say. It's not been inspected, but it's identical to what other accredited agencies use."
Lightner said the last time he ran the numbers, he calculated that for every dollar the county spends, only 4 cents of it goes toward law enforcement expenses. "That's for police, security, law enforcement - and I don't see it just as law enforcement, that's like one-tenth of the job. Crime prevention, courts, civil process, dispatch are all part of it. So law enforcement is like a tenth of the job. Deputies spend a lot of time, 85 percent of their time, on patrol and serving papers; 100 percent of a dispatcher's time is dispatch. I'm floating around there doing office things, administrative duties, and I don't have a bailiff so I'm the bailiff. I don't have a secretary, so dispatchers pick up that slack. Everybody up there wears a lot of hats," he said.
As for acquiring more money for other programs, Lightner said it's harder than it seems. "(State and federal) grant money is sort of dried up," he said. "We used to get extra for patrols, grants for DUI enforcement, underage drinking - they're not totally dried up but if you weren't in on it early on, then you can't get in now. For example, the DARE officer - back in the late '90s, they gave me $9,400 a year for a DARE officer. Now, if you don't have one full-time, which is $30,000, you can't apply for one part-time. But the school doesn't want a full-time. During the offseason, what would he do? They won't fund that one-half, only even numbers, then after a certain period of time they expect the localities to pick it up," he explained.
One source of revenue is still good, he said - the Allegheny Highlands Joint Drug Task Force, a group of cooperating localities in the region that bands together on investigations. If the task force successfully seizes cash or property, those assets are divided among the five localities involved if prosecution results. "We do get right much money," Lightner said. "If a car is taken, or cash is taken, that comes back to the county."
In spite of the financial challenges, Lightner said he applies for grants whenever possible. He said he has likely saved the county $20,000-$50,000 a year for the last five years by keeping the jail open that much longer when the state mandated its closing. In addition, he said, he has saved local taxpayers by getting grant money for computers ($13,000), communication ($15,000), armor vests ($4,000), DMV expenses ($1,000), national forest expenses ($3,400), and other equipment ($2,000).
Even in Virginia's least populated county, Lightner has garnered experience in a wide variety of law enforcement issues: Internet crimes, homicide, rape, abduction, child molestation, kidnapping, hostage negotiation, fraud, embezzlement, felony assault, undercover drug operations, vehicle theft, armed robbery, suicide, game violations, and more. He has worked with a host of other agencies in the process including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Agency, ATF, IRS, Virginia State Police, ABC, DMV, and the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. He has administered budget preparation for his office, supervised his staff 24 hours a day, spent 22 years as a court bailiff, and worked with the compensation board and division of risk management.
Crime prevention,
prosecution
Though Highland County does not have a high crime rate, Lightner points to several programs he implements and maintains on crime prevention and education, including ones for auxiliary deputies, community service, victim witness assistance, and a standard operating procedure manual for his employees.
One program in particular paid off for the first time recently. Lightner has regularly offered training to local banks so they know how to react in case of a robbery attempt. Last year, Blue Grass Valley Bank was robbed for the first time in its 90-plus years in business. Lightner said he was proud that when law enforcement officials arrived, all bank employees had already followed protocols as they'd been trained. "Bank employees did really well. Every year the employees had gone through this process, so when we got there (on the day of the robbery), they all knew what to expect, papers were filled out." The thief was tracked down later in Colorado by Lightner and his deputies, and brought back to Highland before the courts along with his accomplices, resulting in convictions and guilty pleas.
Most recently, Lightner and his office have been criticized for what some see as a failure to adequately patrol the town of Monterey, particularly for excess noise or nuisances. "The law is pretty clear about what we can do," Lightner said, chalking up some of the more vocal concerns to election year talk. "I wish I could make it go away for everybody," he said, adding until there's a noise ordinance in place, deputies must witness a crime in order to act immediately, and citizens must otherwise file charges through the local magistrate if they choose to. "They always ask me about this at election time. Every summer you have a problem, but every election year, you get more complaints," he said.
Lightner said he treats all citizens absolutely fairly under the law, no matter who they are, and has no conflicts of interest related to his position.
In addition, he said, he makes all information on crime available to citizens whenever they ask, unless that information must remain confidential by law, or unless providing it threatens his deputies or their ongoing criminal investigations. Lightner provides a sheriff's report weekly to The Recorder so citizens are kept aware of alleged crimes reported to his office. "I tell everyone everything unless it's an ongoing investigation," Lightner said. "And if the state changes the Freedom of Information Act in any way at all, they have training for us - we get way more requests (for crime statistics) than people think we do."
The only other information Lightner does not provide is on juveniles. "I can't release any information on persons under 18, regardless of whether they are a victim, witness, or suspect, in a criminal investigation. If they're charged as an adult (and a judge agrees to treat them as such), then all the information would be available," he said.
Fortunately, he said, youth do not commit many crimes in Highland. Lightner has regular inspections at the schools, but said, "Historically, over the years, we've found very little, and what we did find was marijuana. It would be less than a tablespoon. Of course we've found alcohol, one or two beers or a bottle, smokeless tobacco and cigarettes - There were only two incidents in the last 3-4 years. One (youth) was charged and one wasn't."
In addition to focusing on youth as the school's resource officer, Lightner serves as the executive officer of the court, and provides security for the jail. He first got involved with the DARE program in the schools in the 1980s, and has kept a DARE officer involved with students throughout his post as sheriff.
Lightner stresses that law enforcement agents do not make decisions about prosecuting those accused of crimes. "Generally, the commonwealth's attorney does that," he said. "We take (a case) to the commonwealth's attorney and ask what the appropriate charge is. When it comes right down to it, it would be a waste of time not to consult the commonwealth's attorney because you could kill your husband and I could charge you, but it's up to the police and sheriff to arrest somebody who violated an infraction, but it's up to the commonwealth's attorney to prosecute the case. It's up to the judge to decide if you're guilty or innocent. So there's layers in the judicial system that police have a small part in, about one-third."
This November, longtime commonwealth's attorney John Lohr will leave office, and county attorney Melissa Dowd is running for that position unopposed. "I'll miss John Lohr because we've worked together for 26 years," Lightner said. "Melissa's been on the other side of the fence although she's prosecuted ordinance violations and I've seen her, very competent. I think she'll do a good job. It will take her a while to adjust to the other side of the wall, but her advantage is she'll be able to tell us how to close some holes, maybe do things a little differently. I'll miss John Lohr, but possibly (the change) will be an asset," he said.
Community service
Community outreach, Lightner said, has been a big part of his role as sheriff. Just recently, he said, he was approached by one citizen who asked whether a Neighborhood Watch program could be implemented. "I told him we have a neighborhood watch, unofficially. Not much goes on that we're not called and told about, but people don't like their names reported if they call. All those things have to be not just us (sheriff's department). It's a community; it's all like the quote about it taking a village to raise kids - crime watch, crime stoppers. We still have (those programs) through the state. If you call the drug hotline, they call me, if you call the crime stoppers hotline, they call me. With all those things - for a small sheriff's office, we have a lot of crime-preventing educational things," he said. "Just recently I did a woman's safety thing at the library. I do get requests for stuff."
He sees current crime trends today geared more toward technology. "It's your computer-type crimes, scams, fraudulent checks, identity thefts. Mostly, it's increasing. (Four years ago), it was domestic violence, and domestic violence is still up there, but identity theft and scams are coming along." Those kinds of crimes, he said, are particularly difficult for local law enforcement officers since the criminals are often overseas. "We just don't have those kinds of resource," he said. "It's really hard."
With I.D. theft, the victim is more apt to resolve the issue faster than law-enforcement officials, Lightner said. "They can actually do it faster than I can because they won't release information to me. By the time I call and get information back, the victim can do it much quicker. The attorney general's office has started a program where you get your identity back and then work on the other later, get your credit back, that's a big benefit to people in Virginia," he added.
Lightner said aside from a speeding ticket in 1979, he has never broken the law. And the new, hefty fees on traffic violations are not something he personally agrees are going to work. The new laws, intended to raise more money for transportation maintenance, place extraordinary fines on drivers who break driving laws. "I think it's a crock, myself. (Let's say) you have a bald tire. If you had the money, you'd put a new tire on there. Now you get fined $900. People can't afford those kinds of civil penalties. If you want to charge somebody on their second or third DUI $4,000- $5,000 dollars, that's one thing. But people don't pay their fines because they don't have the money."
What's next?
"This election, like all elections, should be about the best candidate," Lightner said, "being the most experienced, and with a proven law enforcement record. I demonstrate dependable leadership and am highly trained in these areas of importance."
If Lightner is re-elected for the sixth time this fall, he said he'll continue the high-quality service he's provided for nearly 20 years and citizens here will know exactly what they can expect from his department. But it doesn't necessarily mean he won't seek election one more time, well after he's qualified at the age of 50 to earn his retirement check.
"I won't say I wouldn't run again. You never know," he said.
About the candidate
Age: 48. Lives in Monterey with his wife, Teresa. Three grown sons: Ryan, 24; Corey, 21; Tyler, 18.
Graduate of Highland High School, 1977.
U.S. Army, specialty intelligence analyst stationed with 82nd Airborne; served one year in Korea.
Became deputy sheriff in Highland in 1981; selected as acting sheriff in 1986; has served as elected sheriff since 1988.
Highland High School resource officer, executive officer of the court, jail security, keeper of inmates, in charge of all civil process and dispatch.
Developed a state-approved domestic violence policy; updated all communication and computer technology in the sheriff's office including the new E-911 system
Training includes emergency (first responder), sheriff's office management, general instructor for the Central Shenandoah Criminal Justice Training Center, victim/witness assistance program coordinator, sex crimes investigation, chemical agent training, Homeland Security training, and other seminars and certifications. Founder of Highland Military Burial Detail, DARE in school system, juvenile community service, inmate work detail, early weather warning system in Highland.
Member of Monterey Lions Club, Green Hill United Methodist Church, Stonewall Ruritan Club, Highland rescue squad, Allegheny Highlands Drug Task Force, Virginia and National sheriffs' associations, Valley Community Service Board, Augusta-Staunton- Waynesboro Jail Board, Highland Masonic Lodge, Blue Ridge College Criminal Justice Board, Virginia Cattlemen's Association, 4-H Club leader and farm safety committee, Virginia Crime Prevention Association. Lightner has also been a T-ball and Little League coach, volunteered for the recreation committee, livestock barn at the fair, developing the elementary school playground, and Meals on Wheels.
Awards and commendations: Accommodation medal, 1977 (highest given in peace time); Korean Service Medal, 1978; Outstanding Community Award from Highland Masons, 1991; National Child Safety award, 1997-98.
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