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Frank M. Pritt
BY CHARLES GARRATT STAFF WRITER
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WARM SPRINGS - Frank M. Pritt Jr. has one credential other candidates for the office of sheriff cannot claim. He's been the sheriff in Bath County before.
Pritt served as sheriff from 1967 until 1980. At the time he was elected, he was 27 years old and the youngest person elected to the position in the state. When Pritt was still a child, Leo Lockridge was sheriff. "I'm going to run for his job one day," Pritt said he told his parents.
He said citizens in the county approached him about running again because they are concerned with the drug problem in Bath County and drugs filtering into the schools. Pritt said as sheriff he "will do whatever I can to keep them (schools) drug free."
Pritt's children went through Bath County schools and he has grandchildren in the school system now. "We need to have drug classes," he said and those classes need to start in the early grades. "When kids get to high school, you can't tell them nothing. They think they know it all," he said.
"I've fought drugs all my life," Pritt added. Bath County has a drug problem, in his opinion. Along with enforcement, he thinks educating kids on the effects of drugs is key.
When Pritt was sheriff, he said the department never had more than five employees even though the county population was swollen by the work force on the Virginia Power dam project. "With what's there now, we ought to be able to get the job done and get her good," Pritt said.
The state police run radar in the county Pritt said, but have some difficulty working reduced speed zones in residential areas. He doesn't see why deputies cannot use radar to supplement the coverage provided by the police.
The same applies to covering traffic accidents. At times a single trooper may be working two counties, he said. "Why can't (a deputy) work it (accident)?" Pritt said.
Pritt said it is more difficult now for deputies to know where everyone lives. E-911 can help solve the problem. But deputies and the sheriff should also take an interest in the county and learn what's going on, he added.
As for the E-911 system, Pritt doesn't know why it couldn't have been handled out of the sheriff's office, unless the state required the office be in a separate building. Pritt doesn't see a need for a consolidated emergency services facility in the county either.
"The public is entitled to information," Pritt said, as long as giving out information would not hinder an investigation. "The more people know, the more they are going to see," said Pritt.
Having the public informed can work "to our advantage," he said. In his sheriff's department, one person would be responsible for providing information to citizens.
"People in the department should get out and meet people," said Pritt. To that extent he supports them coaching and doing other community services.
He knows there is some controversy in the county over some activities deputies have been involved in and whether those activities impact their jobs. "You got to do your job too," Pritt said.
"A lot of things could be improved," in the sheriff's department, Pritt said. Department personnel could get more work done. Pritt plans to be available to fill in on shifts and have special deputies such as the chief deputy work shifts as necessary.
"I'm people oriented," said Pritt. In his job at The Homestead he has provided security to presidents, he noted. But he is good at communicating with "all classes of people," he said. He likes to sit and talk with people and said anything said to him will be kept confidential.
Pritt has been in law enforcement over 30 years, most of it in the county. He enjoys police work and wants to get back into it. "I know I can do the job, I've done it," he said.
About the
candidate
¦ Frank M. Pritt, Jr., 66 ¦ 26 years Homestead Security. ¦ Sheriff Bath County, 1967-80. ¦ Resident of Rocky Ridge. ¦ Member Lifeline Ministries | 
