White County Sheriff Q1 Candidate Responses

The Main Street Journal – Sparta has been listening to the community. Over the past several weeks, readers have submitted questions they want answered ahead of the 2026 election—and we’ve taken those directly to your White County Sheriff candidates.

Here is your first question, and answers from those candidates who chose to respond.

As a Candidate for Sheriff of White County Tn, what do you see as your greatest challenges within this office?

STEVE PAGE: There are many challenges daily for any individual that holds the position as Sheriff. I believe our main challenge is to maintain certified deputies. The pay scale within our county plays a major role when it comes to the turnover of employees. It’s hard to compete when surrounding agencies pay an adequate amount more than our department. A lot of the time we are a stepping stone for people to start their career in law enforcement and then move on to other departments that pay more and offer better benefits.

I strive daily to treat my employees with the respect they deserve by being fair to them in every way possible and treating them the same way I want to be treated by them.

DANIEL TRIVETTE: I think employee retention, lack of consistent transparency, and a lack of proactive criminal enforcement are the biggest issues facing the sheriff office today. We are losing too many good officers to smaller agencies. The public is not being properly updated on cases and events occurring throughout the county. There is very little proactive criminal enforcement occurring currently and minimal drug enforcement going on. While these issues affect small agencies across the country we do not necessarily have to reinvent the wheel to begin providing solutions to these problems. Simply put, I believe that a change of mindset, creating a culture of success within the agency, and simply having conversations with the community we serve and those we work with are the best ways to start addressing these issues. These are not new ideas, they are proven solutions that I have witnessed work in very successful agencies across the country. As a leader it is my job to learn from other agencies who have figured out how to solve the issues we currently face. As a leader, I have to continually evaluate my organization to identify areas of concern and provide the solutions necessary to resolve issues rather than ignore them until they get out of hand.

This is where my experience allows me to not only clearly define problems but also to implement realistic solutions. It is easy to identify problems but it takes effort and problem solving skills to develop a working plan to address those issues.

The Main Street Journal - Sparta's 2026 Election Coverage is brought to you by Tennessee Credit.