I am writing to express my support for appointing Joel Phillips to the role of Sheriff. I have personally known Joel for about 20 years. I knew him as a fellow farmer in the community before he and I both started working at the Sheriff’s Office. He comes from a farming background where hard work and fiscal responsibility are core values instilled at an early age. In addition to that, he served in the United States Marine Corps serving his country practicing and further instilling values such as hard work, honesty, dedication, and service.

Over the past 15 years, I have worked with Joel at the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office. He has served and advanced in various roles including uniform patrol, investigations, and administration. During his time in investigations, he served as the supervisor of the Mid-Iowa Drug Task Force. He then was promoted to Jail Administrator in charge of our largest division with 182 beds and 32 employees. Then Joel was promoted to Chief Deputy which is the second in command in our agency and that role assumes the duties of the Sheriff in times when the Sheriff is unavailable. As you can see, he has a wealth of experience in the operations of our agency. He has experience in all of the different divisions which gives him an excellent working knowledge of how all of the different divisions and staff of the agency work together in the overall operation of the agency. Joel is hard-working and dedicated to the roles he serves in. In addition to the duties of the agency, Joel has also been active in other community roles including the board of Child Abuse Prevention Services and Marshall County Drug Court.

I’ve had some inquiries from friends and members of the community asking my opinion on this appointment. My answer is without a doubt Joel Phillips is the most qualified and obvious choice for this role. Some of those same people have asked my thoughts about appointing someone else from outside the agency or even someone who has worked there in the past? I still go back to my first answer is that Joel is very qualified and has been, and still is serving, the citizens of Marshall County at the Sheriff’s Office. If someone from outside had a true desire to serve the citizens through service at the Sheriff’s Office they could have applied for many open positions over the past several years or continued working for our agency if they were once employed here in the past.

Joel has shown an unwavering dedication to this agency and the citizens of Marshall County. I was born, raised, and continue to live in Marshall County. My friends, family, and neighbors are here and their safety and that of the communities they live are directly impacted by the service provided by the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office. I would not be supporting someone in the role of Sheriff if I did not truly believe they were the best choice to lead our agency. I support Joel Phillips as a fellow employee at the Sheriff’s Office, but also and maybe more importantly as a Marshall County citizen, friend, neighbor, and community member.

Please appoint Joel Phillips to the role of Marshall County Sheriff.