UNION COUNTY — Union County sheriff candidate Shane Rollins thinks his experience in the military would serve him well if he were to be elected to the highest law enforcement role in the county.

Rollins is facing off against incumbent Cody Bowen for the sheriff’s job on Nov. 5. This isn’t the first time these two names have appeared on the ballot for sheriff. Rollins was among the candidates who ran against Bowen in the 2020 primary.

“I see there’s a need for a change within our county. I want to serve the public. I served our country for 21 years,” Rollins said.

Four years ago Rollins decided to run for office after being prompted by his friend, former fellow Marine and military policeman Brett Beverage, who said Rollins’ background and experience made him a good fit for sheriff. This time around, he said, it was at the request of his friend Josh Ridley, another former Marine.

“I have a very rich background when it comes to my law enforcement,” Rollins said. “I have trained with several different agencies in the federal government to even local agencies in other countries. So, I’ve been able to see all these different ways of how they do things.”.

Rollins’ top priority if elected would be to implement 24-hour coverage of Union County by the sheriff’s office, which he said is possible with current staffing levels and budgets. While the plan isn’t completely ironed out, Rollins thinks 12-hour shifts with rotations of three days on with three days off and two days on with two days off would provide the necessary coverage.

“So, it’s a wave — you rotate it,” he said.

Another part of this plan includes bringing Bill Miller on as undersheriff if the budget allows. Miller, along with the department’s lieutenants, will be a part of Rollins’ working command.

“He’s going to be a working undersheriff. So, he’ll be out there in the field too. He’ll be going to calls,” Rollins said.

While there is not a line item for undersheriff within the current budget, Rollins believes he can find room within the budget to add Miller to the department. He wants to explore what’s necessary for the department as opposed to what’s just a nicety to identify areas for cost savings.

“This comes from my experience from when I was in the military and all the different budgets I took over,” he said. “There’s always fat to be trimmed in every single budget,” he said.

For example, Rollins pointed to the jail, which he said is one of the largest expenditures within the county — particularly when it comes to food.

He said that there are standards set at the federal level — you have to provide a protein source, a vegetable and so on — but there could be less expensive alternatives that still satisfy the guidelines.

“Instead of serving hot dogs and hamburgers, maybe go to tofu or lima beans or something like that, which is a protein. So that would be a cheaper way of doing it. This is just an example, but these are the things I can look at — that I will look at very deeply,”

However, if it came down to it, Rollins said he would not cut existing positions to fund the role of undersheriff.

If elected, Rollins would also like to explore funding opportunities for a new jail. He pointed to Douglas County in Colorado, which entered into a contract with U.S. marshals to fund the new jail and law enforcement space. He would like to see if a similar approach would work in Union County.

Name: Shane Rollins

Age: 50

Residence: Cove

Relevant experience: Rollins went into the National Guard in 1993 as a diesel mechanic. In 1999 he joined the Marine Corps and was deployed to Iraq, where he served as a platoon sergeant. When he returned from his deployment in 2001, Rollins joined the Criminal Investigation Division for three years before he was promoted and moved over into military police. He was a watch commander in charge of 24 Marines who were responsible for the security of the base.

In 2007, Rollins went into embassy duty as a detachment commander. He was first stationed in Dushanbe, Tajikistan and later Gaborone, Botswana. During this time, Rollins had five Marines in his charge who were the sole Marines in the country to defend the embassy and the ambassadors stationed there.

After this program concluded in 2010, Rollins was stationed at Miramar in San Diego as an assistant operations chief. He was in charge of the Miramar Airshow where he had 600-800 security personnel under his charge.

Family: Rollins and his wife, Jody, have two children.

Hobbies: When he’s not spending time with his family, Rollins enjoys “mechanicing,” running heavy equipment, riding his motorcycle and online gaming.