The three candidates to appear on the Nov. 5 ballot for the position of Latah County Sheriff are James Fry, Richie Skiles and Christopher Middleton. Between the three, they represent nearly 80 years in law enforcement and public service. All are passionate about making a difference in their community.
James Fry
The first candidate to appear on the ballot is James Fry, whose law enforcement experiences range from statewide to the national level.
In his 29-year career, Fry has held every position in the Police Department except Motorcycle Officer and Narcotics Officer. This includes eight years of serving as Moscow’s Chief of Police. During his time in that role, he led Moscow through the nationally publicized University of Idaho murders of 2022.
His record also includes serving on many boards, including the vice chair of the Troy School Board, Idaho School Safety and Security Board and the Governor’s Opioid Advisory Board amongst others. In 2019, he also was a part of the FBI National Academy, a program that only accepts the top 1% of law enforcement officers in the nation.
The reasons behind Fry choosing to run for Latah County Sheriff are both because he has been requested by several people to do so, and because he has been seeing recurring issues within the county that he wishes to address.
“I’ve been hearing about the jail for a couple years, and I was actually asked by a couple of people at Latah County to run [for Sheriff],” Fry said, speaking on one of the issues he finds most prominent.
He followed it up with a comment about how acquiring drug dogs would be a priority of his as well—another issue he feels that has not been handled properly.
“I think Latah County needs a drug dog, and there has not been a drug dog for many years. There has been no attempt or no work at trying to get a drug dog.”
Something Fry hopes people note about his campaign is that his unique experiences and leadership abilities set him apart.
“I bring a very unique set of experiences to this election. I’ve had 29 years of law enforcement. I’ve held every position in the police department,” he said. “What that brings is strong leadership in how to run an organization.”
A particular goal he has in running is to focus not only on the matter of the jail and drug dogs, but on additional SRO officers investing in the training of forensic scientists.
“The first goal we have to work towards is to figure out what’s going on with the jail. The county had eight million dollars in ABOR funds they could have fixed some of these problems with,” Fry said. “There was no visionary. There was no leadership that led to give the commissioners the information that this stuff needed to be fixed.”
Among the points he’s passionate about, he also mentioned that his love for the community is driving him in this race.
“I don’t want to be done with law enforcement yet,” Fry said. “I have a passion for law enforcement, and I have a passion for people, and we need to work on the community policing philosophy out in the county where deputies are getting out and we’re building relationships within those communities.”
Richie Skiles
The second candidate and current sheriff running for reelection is Richie Skiles, a Moscow native whose work with the Latah County Sheriff’s office dates back to 1996.
His career began when he joined the United States Marine Corps in 1989 and proudly served in the Security Forces. His work with the Latah County Sheriff’s office began in 1996, where he has continued to work over the years. Prior to being elected in 2016 to the position of Latah County Sheriff where he continues to serve, he worked as the Police Chief for the city of Troy for over three years.
He has also earned a host of awards, from Spirit of Idaho Award presented by Senator Mike Crapo in Sept. 2019 to the University of Idaho Hometown Hero Award for his leadership, courage and sacrifice, also in Sept. 2019.
When asked why he’s choosing to run for reelection, Skiles made sure to note that his support systems and desire to continue the work he’s been a part of are driving him in this race.
“I am running for reelection because I think that we still have a lot of things to do and we want to continue moving forward,” Skiles said. “My employees want me to be there, and I have a lot of support from the community, and I’m not ready to be done yet.”
Something he wants voters to know about his campaign is that while he’s held the position at Latah County Sheriff for eight years, he has more work he wishes to do.
“I want to continue to serve the public, and my employees would like me to be there and that means a lot to me, and so I’m just not ready to leave yet,” Skiles continued. “I think we’ve done a lot of good things for the community and the people of Latah County and as a command staff—my command staff and I have done a lot of good things to make it a better working environment, so I’d like to just keep moving forward with that.”
Should Skiles be reelected, the issues he wants to work on include continuing 24-hour police coverage of the county, bringing a drug dog in and offering a full-time position for an Internet Crimes Against Children deputy.
“I have a part-time ICAP deputy who works on internet crimes against children. That’s a part-time position but I’d like to move that into a full-time position,” he said. “I’d also like to get a canine. I think a canine would be great to deter drug activity.”
Skiles concluded by making a statement on the standards of the department under his leadership.
“I got a grant for $350,000 to put body cams on the deputies, which we already had, but this is really nice, high-tech stuff in the cars as well, so we have accountability and transparency,” Skiles said. “I believe we should be held to a higher standard. If I show up to do a call for you, you should feel like you got a good service out of that, and that you got help with that.”
Christopher Middleton
The third candidate is Christopher Middleton, a man with 15 years of law enforcement experience who is driven by his faith and a desire to bring back trust to the position.
Middleton’s law enforcement history dates back to April 2008 when he joined the Latah County Sheriff’s office. After holding a position there for five years, he transitioned to working for the Idaho State Police in March 2013. He remained there for a decade before retiring in January of 2023. To run as a candidate for Latah County Sheriff, he is coming out of retirement.
Middleton explains that he is running for the position of sheriff for a number of reasons, but first and foremost is because he wants to see a change within how operations are run.
“I am running because I believe I can bring the type of leadership to the position that will transcend the status quo, look at things from a fresh perspective and instill the type of team atmosphere that simply digs in and gets the job done with an extreme emphasis on building community relationships,” Middleton said.
When asked about what he wants people to know about his campaign, he made it clear that he is running unaffiliated with a party and will not be swayed by the opinions of others.
“I will be focusing on establishing a deeper trust, which I know will result in the ability to provide the much- needed improvements to the agency, service to the rural areas, as well as its operational needs such as a new jail, offices, officers, training and much more,” Middleton said.
The points he hopes to reform are important to his cause, but a big reason in running for him is establishing order and trust within this position.
“To instill a deep seeded trust within the county for the Sheriff’s Office, the trust of its commissioned and noncommissioned personnel, as well as redefine community policing in order to provide more access to deputies, the sheriff and information about whatever the cities need,” he said.
He’s also passionate about looking at substance abuse issues and how to tackle them.
“I want to redefine the battle against substance abuse,” said Middleton.
He hopes to tackle each element of the substance abuse issue, including education, investigating drug dealers and investing in the community needs.
“Lastly, my goal for the agency is to provide the framework to develop, sustain and maintain the best leadership and development the citizens deserve,” he said. “I will accomplish this through leading from the bottom up, not the top down.”