Sheriff Mark Buchanan
By Becky Long
Publisher
Sheriff Mark Buchanan has been on the job about two weeks and in addition to getting organized and setting in to his new office, he has had to deal with flu which kept him under the weather for several days. Buchanan recuperated just in time for the annual Clay County Sheriff’s Christmas Dinner on Saturday, a tradition that most sheriffs of the county have hosted since the 1980s.
Below is a question and answer session with the 21st man to serve as sheriff of Clay County.
Q: You won the primary in May knowing you would be elected sheriff in November. When and how did you begin preparing for your role as sheriff?
A: After having campaigned throughout Clay County for over a year prior to the primary, I would be lying if I said I didn’t take several months “off” to be with my family. Having watched many Sheriffs’ transitions over the past decades, I’ve seen a lot of issues arise when a new Sheriff comes in too early and gets overly involved. It’s not fair to the employees who become unclear as to who they need to answer to. It’s not fair to the outgoing Sheriff who needs their employees to be loyal to his vision for the remainder of his term. For this reason, I waited until the last month or so of Sheriff Deese’s term to get actively involved.
Q: How did you decide what areas you wanted to focus on in the sheriff’s office beforehand and as you continue to evaluate operations?
A: This is a very easy question to answer. I plan on focusing on those specific things “my bosses” have demanded of me. My bosses are the citizens of Clay County. They are all the folks I talked to while campaigning as well as those I continue to talk with on a daily basis.
Q: Did the feedback you received from the public during your campaign play any role in how you plan to move forward at the helm of the sheriff’s office?
A: Absolutely. Our constituents concerns are my concerns. Their visions for a dedicated professional Sheriff’s Office are of great importance to me.
Q: What would you say are your primary objectives or priorities in your first 6 months in office?
A: We have already begun to successfully address several issues such as everyone working to have a more professional public appearance. Another more substantive priority of mine was for the Officers to without fail stay in court and personally advocate for successful outcomes. We had District Criminal Court Dec. 12, and had great attendance by our officers. Several pleas were taken today that would not have happened were it not for the charging officers being present and ready to litigate.
Q: How many people are employed by the sheriff’s office? For example, how many sworn officers? How many administrative?
A: There are 42 full-time positions with the Clay County Sheriff’s Office. We have 16 sworn uniformed positions to serve in a variety of capacities. We currently have two of these positions that need to be filled. Fully staffed, our Investigative Division consists of four sworn positions. We currently have one of these positions that needs to be filled. Our administration, including Chief Deputy is fully staffed at this time. Our detention center would be fully staffed with 16 positions. We are currently struggling with five vacancies.
Q: Did you have an overall meeting with all employees to talk about what to expect?
A: After our swearing in on Monday, Dec. 5 we all met together in the multi-purpose room of the courthouse. I generally talked about my expectations for each of them over the next four years. If there was a central theme to my talk with our employees, it was that I demanded the utmost level of honesty and integrity from each and every one of them.
Q: How do you want your officers, employees to be perceived by the public?
A: I want our law abiding citizenry throughout Clay County to see our folks as friendly, helpful, able protectors, and a sheriff’s office they are proud of. Because of our officers, I want those who would violate our laws to perceive Clay County as an inhospitable place to even pass through.
Q: What is the right balance for being sheriff in a small county like Clay?
A: As I continually said during my campaign for Clay County Sheriff, I want to remain accessible to the public. As during my career with the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation, I always had my private phone number printed on my business cards. An officer who establishes a rapport with victims, witnesses, suspects, informants, etc is pretty much useless if they can’t then be reached 24/7. By the way, all those campaign business cards I gave out while running for office have my personal cell number. I’ll continue to answer this phone number as your sheriff.
• What part of your upbringing or background prepared you most for this role?
A: Starting during childhood, I was raised in and around the law enforcement community. My father, Marcellus Buchanan III, was the elected District Attorney for all these western North Carolina counties. I was constantly around sheriffs such as Tony Woody, as well as other agency heads from other organizations. I learned first and foremost, a sheriff had to be closely connected with and accessible to the people.