There’s a new sheriff in town.
Anthony Maness will be sworn in Monday morning as the newly elected Allen County Sheriff following a successful campaign that unseated incumbent Bryan Murphy.
“I’m looking forward to working with the Commission,” said Maness. “I told commissioners my goal is to take care of the citizens of Allen County and the employees of the Allen County Sheriff’s Office. I recognize the commissioners are also looking to take care of the citizens of the county, as well as all of the county employees. I want to focus on those commonalities so whenever there is a difference, we can find that ground where we can work together.”
Maness grew up in Iola and joined the Iola Police reserves at age 18. He worked as a dispatcher before he was hired by the police department.
He worked for the Allen County Sheriff’s Department from 2011 to 2020, when he joined the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI). This past November, he joined Allen Community College as Criminal Justice Studies program coordinator, with a goal to educate and train future generations of law enforcement and corrections workers.
MANESS SAYS his emphasis for his first year in office will be on restoration. “Any time there is change, there is some uncertainty,” he noted. “I want to lead the organization in a way that demonstrates our commitment to serving the citizens and equips the employees to serve to the best of their ability.”
His focus will be on fine tuning what is already working. “Throughout the campaign, I always said that I don’t think the sheriff’s office is bad — we can just do better,” said Maness. “My short-term goals will be to revitalize our training and that, in turn, will develop better service for our citizens. It’s not that they’re not already trained or that citizens aren’t being served right now. With my organizational knowledge and having worked there previously, I know some of the practices and I think we can take it and make it even better.”
One of the areas Maness sees an opportunity for improvement in is strengthening communication between the Sheriff’s office and the courts. “People will either say, ‘Why aren’t the cops doing their job?’ or ‘Why aren’t the courts doing their job?’,” he said. “It’s always one of the two. Historically, cops and courts will even point the finger back and forth at times.”
Maness and newly elected County Attorney Brandon Cameron have already started a dialogue and look forward to working with one another. “I think Brandon and I are really focusing on the common ground,” said Maness. “My focus on training is making sure we are equipping the deputies to respond appropriately so that we can send solid cases to the court. If you don’t provide a solid report, the prosecutor can only go with what they’re given. I know Brandon takes his job very seriously and he focuses on what he needs to win cases. With the dialogue between him and I, I can make sure we are doing things the right way and in a timely manner. Then we can turn it over to him and trust him to do his part.”
WHILE HE could argue why each individual crime is the most pressing in the county, Maness believes drug use and distribution are at the top of the list. He believes that part of the dilemma is the added mental health element.
“Mental health issues are not criminal,” he explained. “What happens, though, is people either self-medicate or they ingest substances on top of pre-existing mental health concerns that can accentuate those criminal acts. There is definitely a drug nexus to our prevalent criminal activities. People who are affected by substance misuse are prone to commit more crimes.”
When it comes to the fentanyl crisis, Maness says that we can’t “legislate or enforce our way out of it — we have to educate our way out of it.” Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid used for pain mitigation in medical settings and is often illegally manufactured as counterfeit pills.
“It’s important we hold people accountable for their criminal actions,” he said. “But, it’s also important that we don’t label people forever because of their actions. I’ve seen some people turn their lives around because they were held accountable.” To this point, Maness says he is excited to get involved with recovery court.
Successful completion of the recovery court program helps prevent individuals from having convictions and criminal records. “It is something that is actually helping make a difference,” he said. “It empowers them to make changes in their lives.”
IN THE LONG-TERM, Maness wants to develop an agency of leaders. “I want an organization of employees who take care of the citizens of Allen County,” he said. “They pay taxes for these services, so we need to make sure we’re doing the services to the best of our ability.”
