6 people, including 5 officers, to be considered to replace Marion County Sheriff Joe Kast
Six people will be considered to replace retiring Marion County Sheriff Joe Kast.
They include Marion County Sheriff’s officers Nicholas Hunter Jr., Chad Jones, Chris Kennedy, Don Parise and Stacy Rejaian.
The other is Salem-Keizer Public Schools director of safety and risk management Chris Baldridge, a former Marion County officer.
The candidates are required to be United States citizens, residents of Marion County, 21 years old, have four years as a full-time officer or two years of experience and two years of education, and have no felonies, according to Marion County.
According to their resumes:
Jones is a graduate of Sprague High School, Chemeketa Community College and Western Oregon University. He worked as an officer in West Linn and currently works for Marion County. He also is a real estate agent and vice president of non-profit Believe In Your Community, which does Shop with a Cop and other events.
Kennedy is a graduate of Central Texas College and served 20 years in the Navy. He has worked as a deputy for Marion County since 2015, including as a field training officer for four years.
Baldridge has a GED from North Idaho College. He worked as a deputy in the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office and was an officer in Stayton from 2002 to 2004. He worked as a deputy, sergeant and lieutenant for Marion County from 2005 to 2020 before taking the position with Salem-Keizer.
Parise was a cadet with Salem's police department and Marion County in his youth. He worked as a 911 dispatcher, then was an officer for Salem from 1996 to 2008 before moving to Keizer as an officer. He has been a sergeant with Marion County since 2011, including a stint as interim chief of police in Hubbard.
Regaian has degrees from University of North Carolina Greensboro and George Fox. She was a legislative assistant to Rep. Susan Morgan and worked in Oregon's Republican Party. She has been a deputy with Marion County since 2007 and also has been a real estate broker, including owning Olympic Realty since 2016.
Hunter is a graduate of Lakeridge High School and Willamette University. He was a reserve and temporary deputy with Marion County from 2001 to 2003 and was an officer in Independence from 2004 to 2008. He came back to Marion County in 2008 and has been promoted to lieutenant.
T. Shane Burnham had also applied for the position, but withdrew his name Wednesday.
The Marion County commissioners will interview the six candidates at 8:30 a.m. June 7 in the Senator Hearing Room at Courthouse Square in downtown Salem. They will then appoint Kast’s replacement.
Members of the public can submit comments at sheriffpubliccomment@co.marion.or.us.
The new sheriff will start June 30. They will hold the position until a new sheriff is elected in the 2024 general election.
Kast was appointed to the position in 2019. He announced in May he would retire as of June 30.
Bill Poehler covers Marion and Polk County for the Statesman Journal. Contact him at bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: 6 people apply to replace Marion County Sheriff Joe Kast
