White County Sheriff Q6 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 sixth question, and answers from those candidates who chose to respond.

There are several “cold cases” reported in this County. What is your strategy in working to solve these cases?

STEVE PAGE: Every cold case that is in White County is still an ongoing investigation such as the Foster/Bechtel Case. I am always committed to working on any case that is within my department, no matter how old that case may be.

Some cases that occurred in the White County have been assigned to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. The White County Sheriff’s Office has no control over those due to being unable to obtain the case file.

I have hired some very good employees that has years of experience in investigations to help with investigating cases that are cold to be sure they are not forgotten about.

DANIEL TRIVETTE: There is an alleged statement from Paul Harvey that has been repeated over time in which he tells folks if they want to get away with murder go to Sparta, TN. There is a sense of concern that without quality law enforcement investigations this could easily be the case. This is true regardless if the case is deemed a homicide, a suicide, or a missing person with unusual circumstances. Every life matters no matter the type of case.

As law enforcement we have the responsibility to not only conduct quality investigations but to leave no stone unturned until we have exhausted every resource in an attempt to shine light on the truth and bring closure to the victims and the victim’s families.

As your next sheriff, I am eager to look for ways to re-open cold cases by using alternate resources to ensure that we have done everything we can possibly do to find a resolution. Some of the resources are potentially employing part time cold case detectives or using the wealth of knowledge from retired law enforcement officers that reside in our beautiful county. White County is populated by so many retired law enforcement officers from Tennessee and surrounding states that would love to offer their expertise to take a fresh look at the cases that remain unsolved in this county. We also need to start being willing to build relationships with outside and third party sources that employ retired law enforcement to assist in cases like these. We must not be too proud to admit that we need assistance with the limited resources that we have.

We can no longer look the other way and ignore the pleas of the victims in our county. It is time to reopen cases that need answers. It is time to reexamine these cases and make sure that there is nothing that was missed or implement investigative tools that we have not previously had. We owe this to the citizens of our county. There are too many folks assumed “guilty” in these cases due to the lack of communication between law enforcement and our community. If we have truly come to a dead end in these cases then it is time to have those conversations and lay our cards on the table. Transparency often comes with difficult conversations but those conversations must be had. I am ready to have those difficult conversations. I have proven that with having very open conversations and what some might say are controversial topics during this process.

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