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Monroe, Wilson seek Trumbull sheriff’s position

WARREN — The race for Trumbull County Sheriff shows a contrast between incumbent Sheriff Paul Monroe and challenger Mike Wilson, as both candidates discussed their different approaches to leadership, accountability and public safety.

Mike Wilson, a Gulf War veteran and former Ohio State Highway Patrol officer, has made departmental reform and transparency the cornerstone of his campaign. Wilson has criticized Monroe for what he describes as a failure of leadership, pointing to an ongoing civil rights lawsuit filed by Commissioner Niki Frenchko, which accuses Monroe of violating her First and Fourth Amendment rights during a public meeting.

“I have a problem with law enforcement when they don’t work within the rules that we expect everybody else to follow,” Wilson said. “Our sheriff violated First and Fourth Amendment rights of our sitting commissioner, and that’s proven from this federal civil court case and the judge’s ruling.”

Wilson also accused Monroe of destroying evidence related to the lawsuit, citing Monroe’s own deposition in which he admitted to deleting text messages.

“He admitted to destroying text messages he was supposed to preserve. I would never destroy evidence,” Wilson said.

Monroe, however, defended his actions, denying the allegations and describing the lawsuit as “fabricated.” He explained that the text messages in question were irrelevant to the case and had been deleted long before a court order to preserve them was issued.

“There is no evidence to destroy,” Monroe said. “The conspiracy they’re alleging never happened.”

Beyond the legal dispute, Wilson has been vocal about issues of employee turnover, budget mismanagement and jail safety. He noted that nearly half of the corrections officers have left during Monroe’s tenure, citing dissatisfaction with contract negotiations and working conditions.

“The turnover in the sheriff’s department is directly related to the administration,” Wilson said. “Deputies are 15 months out of contract negotiations. These guys haven’t had a raise, and the administration isn’t taking care of them.”

Wilson also criticized Monroe for what he called poor financial oversight, pointing to the sheriff’s office spending $400,000 on a computer program that remains unused. In contrast, Wilson has proposed a business plan to bring in $6 million annually by housing federal prisoners and has advocated for work-release programs to reduce the burden on the jail system.

Monroe, who has served as sheriff for the past eight years, pushed back on Wilson’s claims, pointing to improvements in jail safety and accountability under his leadership. He highlighted the progress made in turning around the jail’s compliance with state standards, which had been “abysmal” when he first took office.

“We went from meeting 40% of our jail standards to 100% compliance,” Monroe said. “We increased training for our corrections staff and made sure they know what’s expected. We hold people accountable.”

Monroe also touted his leadership in tackling the opioid crisis, which has been a central issue throughout his tenure. He emphasized the work of Trumbull County’s drug task force, which he says has helped drive down overdose rates and violent crime in the county.

“We put the hammer down on enforcement,” Monroe said. “Overdose stats are finally starting to drop, and violent crime is not at the level it was eight years ago.”

Monroe questioned Wilson’s qualifications, pointing out that much of his opponent’s experience in law enforcement involved writing traffic tickets.

“I’m a policeman, not a ticket writer,” Monroe said. “I’ve investigated homicides, rapes, child abuse, drug crimes. My opponent doesn’t bring any of that to the table.”

Wilson, meanwhile, sought to differentiate himself by emphasizing his commitment to integrity and reform. He stated that, if elected, his priority would be to rebuild trust between the sheriff’s office and the community through transparency and better management.

“The culture needs to change,” Wilson said. “People need to know they can trust their sheriff, and that starts with following the same rules and laws we hold everyone else to.”

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