King, Hicks vie for York County Sheriff

Incumbent Democrat William “Bill” King is facing competition from Republican Roger Hicks for the York County Sheriff seat.

The candidates, in alphabetical order.

 Roger Hicks, 64, lives in Hollis with his wife, Doris. They have two sons and three grandchildren. Hicks is employed at Western Express, and retired from the York County Sheriff’s Office after 25 years of service. He is a graduate of the Maine Criminal Justice Academy, basic law enforcement training, Dare Officer Certification; Juvenile Officer Certification; School Resource Officer Certification; Juvenile Fire Setters Specialist 1; York County Haz-Mat Team; Multi Hazard School Planning; Hazardous Materials Technician; SWAT 1; Supervisor Development; First Line Supervisor; Hate and Biased Crime Investigator.

He served on the Hollis Select Board for three years, the York County Budget Committee for two years and on the SAD 6 Budget Advisor committee for three years.

He said his relative background includes the implementation of the DARE and School Resource Officer Programs in the rural school areas patrolled by the York County Sheriff’s Office. He served as the first Hate Bias Crimes Investigator in the Sheriff’s Office and was certified on both the state and federal level. He also served as the liaison to the Emergency Management Agency and for 40 years in volunteer fire service.

“I am dedicated to interagency cooperation to keep the citizens of York County safe and providing resources when disaster strikes,” he said. “I firmly believe I can bring back to York County the transparency, the honesty, and the ethics the residents and taxpayers of our County deserve.”

Hicks said his experience has provided him with a greater vision of the Sheriff’s Office as a whole, and if elected, he will be on the front line with his employees while they are working.

“Having served as a correctional officer and deputy as well as in supervisory positions, I have gained the relevant and direct experience needed,” he said. “I am better qualified and equipped to lead, as I understand what these employees face every day.”

Hicks said he is not in favor of the current contract policing model, and if elected, would put forth a budget to support adequate patrol coverage in those towns. He said the current model creates an unstable safety environment for taxpayers and employees and creates retention issues which opens the agency, employees and taxpayers to a lack of protection.

He said if elected, “I will work to improve moral and employee retention with effective leadership which will include a review of conditions in the entire Sheriff’s Office, including a departmental meeting with all divisions of the Sheriff’s Office, and voluntary individual meetings with each employee with a mind towards repairing moral and integrity within the department.”

If elected, he said he will rebuild the Sheriff’s office, establishing programming which will be available to all 29 municipalities. He said he would also implement an aggressive training program to ensure employees are not decertified because of training issues and increase employees’ potential for promotions and other opportunities.

 “I will foster a positive working environment by being open to employee suggestions and working side by side with our employee unions,” he said.

 William King, 68, lives in Saco and has two children and three grandchildren. He has served as the York County Sheriff since 2014, and has worked in the Sheriff’s Office since 2010. He has more than 30 years of federal and municipal law enforcement experience, and is on the Maine Sheriffs’ Association Executive Board, serving as vice-president since 2019. He is also a certified jail manager, a distinction held by two people in the state.

King has a bachelor’s degree in criminal science and a master’s degree in management science. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, National Sheriffs’ Institute Academy, Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, Drug Enforcement Administration Basic Agent Academy, Maine Criminal Justice Academy, Prison Rape Elimination Act Training, and National Correctional Institution Jail Administration Training Program.

King said his experience, training, accomplishments and desire make him the best candidate.

“Over the past eight years I have led the sheriff’s office through numerous critical incidents, through criminal justice reform and the ‘defunding’ of the police movement, an unprecedented Opioid Crisis as well as the COVID pandemic. While we were the first jail to suffer a major COVID outbreak, we soon became a model of COVID mitigation in a congregate setting,” he said.

King said under his leadership, the York County Sheriff’s Office became MLEAP accredited, a distinction held by just 13 other law enforcement agencies across the state.

“Under my leadership, we have modernized the patrol division and for the past year, the York County Sheriff’s Office has been reviewing their policies and procedures to ensure they are current and align with best practices,” said King.

King said if reelected, among his top priorities would be to continue to address serious crime in our communities. Another priority would be traffic and would continue efforts such as partnering with agencies like AAA and the Bureau of Highway Safety to hold news conferences, corresponding with registered owners of cars involved in traffic violations and thanking community members for reporting traffic violations and unsafe conditions.

“With over 550 square miles to cover, we employ several strategies to address traffic infractions, often seeking voluntary compliance over ticketing and fines,” he said.

He said he would also continue to address the opioid crisis, noting that York County Jail has the largest Medicated Assisted Treatment program for substance use disorder among county jails in the state.

The staffing shortage in corrections has become particularly acute in the past couple of years, said King, and many strategies have been used to address the issue including implementing sign-on and recruitment bonuses as well as shift differentials; collaborating with the York County Human Resources Department for recruitment efforts, and recruiting people who work seasonal jobs as reserves.

King said there is an employee gym at the county building, an employee assistance program and a peer support group in partnership with the National Association of Mental Illness.

“It is equally important during this time of short staffing that we strive to ensure our employee’s wellness and resilience – employees are our most valuable asset,” he said.

Publisher Liz Gotthelf can be reached at newsdesk@sacobaynews.com.