White County Sheriff Q9 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 ninth question, and answers from those candidates who chose to respond.

What responsibilities do voters often misunderstand about the office of sheriff?

STEVE PAGE: The one thing that a lot of voters do not understand is the Sheriff does not have any control over who gets let out of jail. The sheriff has no control over how much a bond is set at to let someone bond out of jail.

DANIEL TRIVETTE: The sheriff is without a doubt the most powerful position within the county government. This is the reason that this position is elected because the sheriff must remain accountable to the people. The sheriff does not answer to anyone other than the voters. Because of the importance of this position and the authority that comes with it is often the reason why sheriff candidates are heavily funded by certain individuals who hope that their financial contributions give them access to the most powerful position in the county. It is for this reason that I stated very early that I would not ask anyone for financial contributions during this campaign so I owe no man anything when I assume this role. Too often this position is controlled by the highest bidder and this does not promote fair and consistent policing. I want to change that.

While the sheriff must get his budget and budget requests approved by the county commission once the funding is given to the sheriff then the commissioners no longer have a say in how the money is spent. This is where integrity is key for a sheriff to use the funding he receives just like he said would when he asked for the money. This promotes very building strong productive relationships between your sheriff office and the county commission.

The sheriff is tasked with the daily law enforcement responsibilities within the county, maintaining court security, serving the process of the court from criminal to civil process paperwork,and to maintain the jail. The budget for the sheriff office is actually separated into two budgets, one for the sheriff office and one for the jail. The current budget is approximately 8 million dollars and is the second largest budget in the county. The sheriff salary is set by the state of Tennessee not by the county.

I have considered this campaign as a job application for this position. While I have extensive law enforcement experience and training, I have spent time preparing for this position by making myself familiar with how our county government works, building professional relationships, and educating myself on the various responsibilities of this position. I have not taken this process lightly and I am ready to go to work on Day one rather than spend my time getting myself prepared after Election Day.

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