Kevin Friend to step down from sheriff's post on Sept. 22

By Roger Sims, rsims@linncountyjournal.com

MOUND CITY – Linn County Sheriff Kevin Friend, who announced last year that he would not seek re-election to this post, announced on Thursday, Sept. 5, that he would be stepping down on Sept. 22.

In a letter addressed to Gov. Laura Kelly, the citizens of Linn County, and County Clerk David Lamb, Friend announced his intentions to step away from his duties as sheriff.

“I would like to thank the Citizens of Linn County, Kansas and the supporters of the Linn County Sheriff’s Office for the unwavering support over the past four years and eleven months,” Friend’s letter said. “I have enjoyed serving Linn County as your Sheriff since my appointment on October 2, 2019. I have accepted another position and my final day as Sheriff of Linn County will be September 22, 2024.

“I appreciate and admire the staff of the Linn County Sheriff’s Office, and I am proud of their achievements. I thank you for the opportunity to serve and I pray for God’s blessings on our County.”

Friend was appointed to the post in 2019 when the late Paul Filla retired. He was subsequently elected to the post in November 2020.

Friend has accepted a position with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. He will start his work with them in Topeka before being transferred out to Colby in the western part of the state for a year doing field investigations.

“I hope to get back to Pittsburg,” he said of his long-range plans.

Friend’s term in office has been characterized by his willingness to push back at members of the Linn County Board of Commissioners when they were critical of his office or of the process of building the Linn County Judicial Center, including a new jail.

One of the hallmark of Friend’s administration has been his part in the planning of that building, which includes the sheriff’s headquarters and the jail as well as court rooms and offices.

During an interview on Thursday, Sept. 5, the sheriff said his successul efforts in helping design and bring the Judicial Center into operation was his best achievement while in office.

A technological achievement with numerous systems in place to better manage the inmate population, the  jail will receive the Detention Facility of the Year award by the National Institute for Jail Operations.

“This award was given by the national agency for innovation and excellence,” Friend posted in a release last month. “This is the largest award available for a jail operation in America. The award will be received by staff at the JAILCON24 Conference in French Lick, Indiana, in October.”

Lt. Kimberly Herring, who is jail administrator, and another staff member will travel to Indiana to receive that award.

Friend continued to praise Herring for her management of the facility and said that if wasn’t sure that the operation of the jail would continue on its present course, he wouldn’t feel comfortable in leaving his post early.

During his tenure as sheriff, the building of the new jail has turned incarceration from a drain on the county’s budget of more than half a million dollars annually to a gross income of roughly $1 million. The 90-plus inmate facility has virtually stopped “farming out” prisoners because of overcrowding.

Friend said that he also felt comfortable with Deputy James Akes stepping into the post. In the August primary election, Akes was selected to be the Republican nominee for sheriff for November’s general election. He is facing no other candidate on the ballot, making his election to the post all but assured.

To install Akes in the post now, the Linn County Republican Central Committee will vote to recommend him to the governor, who will likely approve the request.