TRHT Selma 2022 election candidates’ forum - Dallas County Sheriff

Since the 2020 election cycle, the Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation Selma (TRHT Selma) initiative, a partnership between the Black Belt Community Foundation (BBCF) and the Selma Center for Nonviolence (SCNTR), has continued to provide educational and restorative outreach in our community.  In 2022 we are furthering our efforts by helping residents better understand the values and vision of the candidates in the District Attorney (4^th Judicial Circuit) and Dallas County Sherriff’s races.  

As a part of the work, TRHT Selma brings community members from all walks of life together to volunteer on design teams, think tanks focused on the areas of Law, Economy, and Separation. The design teams have developed a list of questions and are hosting one-on-one interviews prior to the election to offer voters insight on candidates’ thoughts related to critical issues impacting our community’s ability to enforce laws and offer just outcomes.

Candidates also have been invited to share their vision and responses via a live, virtual one-on-one chat to bebroadcasted live via Facebook and YouTube. 

From the questions posed by TRHT, here are answers from sheriff candidates Mike Granthum and Donald Shepard:

How does your faith inform your ideas of justice specifically for felonies and violent crimes? 

Granthum: I take my faith and beliefs very serious. I live by the golden rule, treat others how you want to be treated. Other than that, I do not let my personal feelings interfere when it comes to enforcing the law. I also take my Oath of Office very seriously. I have always and will continue to enforce the laws of the land. 

Shepard: I believe people should be held accountable for their actions, violent crimes and felonies should be thoroughly investigated to ensure justice and closure is brought to the victims and their families, it is our duty to make sure we have the correct facts and evidence to present the best case to the district attorney's office so we're not prosecuting the wrong person. I feel it's a balance to protect our citizens and to be fair to the accused.

Are you familiar with the concept of restorative justice, and if so, how do you see it in action in your practices? What is your definition of restorative justice and what role do you see it playing in the justice system? 

Granthum: Restorative Justice is not a new concept. My definition of restorative justice is a type of mediation to some type of conflict resolution between the victim and the offender. This approach is very beneficial in some instances but not in all cases. One of the pluses to this approach is that it frees up the court room for some of your more violent offenders.

Shepard: Yes, I believe if you offer people an opportunity and options you will be able to rehabilitate some offenders, especially nonviolent offenders, I feel GED and trade programs will work, make no mistake, I do realize crime exist and people will have to go to jail but we still have an obligation to follow the law and treat offenders in the appropriate manner. My definition of restorative justice is rehabilitating nonviolent offenders to return to society and be productive citizens in the community. I see it being implemented into the criminal justice system as additional training.

Studies have proven that white and black people use and sell drugs at about the same rate and yet black people are more likely to be arrested and prosecuted for selling and possessing drugs. How will they be prosecuted for selling and possessing drugs? How will you ensure that black and poor communities are not disproportionately policed and prosecuted? 

Granthum: I am a firm believer that the law applies to everyone. Deputies at the Sheriff’s Office do not enforce the law on whether you are from the white race or the black race. Sheriff deputies apply the law to the only race and that is the human race. A law enforcement officer has very little to do with the prosecution of an offender that is the DA’s responsibility. However, from time to time we are asked for input. Training is a very important tool to use to make sure that type of behavior is not taking place in the department. If a law is on the books, we will continue to enforce those laws regardless of skin color or economic status. The laws are written for everyone. 

Shepard: Drugs and violent crime are destroying our communities, I realize our citizens have been affected in negative ways, we are one community, one Dallas county, drugs dealers don't care which communities, families or children they destroy, under my administration enforcement and justice will be addressed in all the communities of Dallas county, we want to build relationships and trust with the community so people want be afraid to report drug activity, when the community is reporting the problem, we can impose equal justice for all our citizens and not single out one group. 

What policies/practices/training are you going to have in place for officers to effectively communicate with residents. How are you going to gain residents’ trust? Do you believe law enforcement leaders understand their officers' treatment of community residents and how might this understanding/lack of understanding contribute to street justice/retaliation? 

More from this section

Unflattering photo sparks woman’s inspiring weight loss

Dallas DWI Lawyer Helps Drivers Address The ALR Hearing Deadline

New monkey DNA map could help speed up human research

Granthum: Communication with the people is very important. Trust is something that is earned from the community and is very important. This trust is earned by treating the people in the community fair and with respect. One of the biggest elements in earning the public’s trust is doing your job fairly day in and day out. There is no excuse for “Street Justice” or “Retaliation.” It is my opinion that we cannot use the excuse that “the police took too long, or it takes years to prosecute a case, etc.” This does not justify one breaking the law. 

Shepard: I would like to see conflict resolution, mental health, and verbal communication training for our staff, I would also like to implement a community resource officer and a citizen's advisory board to meet and discuss ideas and issues affecting our community. I believe a professional appearance and training builds better trust, I believe our law enforcement leaders should have staff meetings to discuss and implement policies that best address our community needs, supervisors will engage with our deputies and citizens during their shift. I feel when there is trust and partnerships / street justice / retaliation could decrease.

What is your plan to ensure the jail conditions are safe and inhabitable for inmates?  What is your plan to ensure attorneys have a secret place to speak with their clients?  What is your planned approach to addressing underlying mental, physical, and addiction issues?

Granthum: We have policies and procedures in place at the Dallas County Jail. I am proud to say that during this COVID pandemic we did not have a single death. We are one of the few jails in the state that did not have a single hospitalization. The jail is cleaned and sanitized by the inmates on a regular basis. The Dallas County Commission has a contract with Rural Health to address all mental, physical, and addiction illnesses. If these types of illnesses cannot be handled in house by Rural Health, the inmate is transported to the proper medical professionals to be treated after having received the referral from the Rural Health doctor. Until Covid protocol was put into place, attorney’s and inmates meet in private rooms.  As sheriff it is very important that I keep the inmates safe. Attorneys now meet with their clients via telephone with a glass partition between the two. All conversations are confidential and can only be heard by the inmate and the attorney. At no time are conversations recorded.   

Shepard: Upon taking office I plan to conduct a full assessment of the detention center, this will give us a better understanding of our strengths and weaknesses, operating policies and procedures, jail budget, and staff levels. I plan to be transparent with the public about the condition of the facility, this way the public is informed. We must ensure the jail is safe and inhabitable for inmates, staff, and visitors. Attorneys have a right to visit their clients, therefore we will work together to ensure we have safe procedures in place to accommodate our staff, inmates, attorneys while adjusting to covid protocol. I would like to have mental health counselors and medical personnel on site. 

What is your vision for our criminal legal (justice) system to ensure that it is just for all? What do you see is working well in the legal system and what changes will you make?

Granthum: I feel like we have the best justice system in the world. I do believe there is room for improvement in everything we do. In my opinion, one thing we need to work on is “a Fair and Speedy Trial.” It sometimes takes too long to get these cases tried. The whole time a violent offender can be left on the streets putting other people in jeopardy. One of the many things we are doing right is starting to put an emphasis on our re-entry process for the offender before entering them back into society. If released back into society without training, we are putting these same people back on the streets. If trained (counseling, GED, or learning a trade), we are releasing a more productive person with the tools needed to be successful. Untrained they are going to revert to that same life of crime. 

Shepard: My vision for our criminal justice system is more community engagements, more involvement with our schools, churches, youth groups and our non-profits. I believe community policing is working well, Changes I would like to make are to implement some of the recommendations of the President's Task force on 21st century policing.

In the recent past and present we have seen a worldwide coverage of police brutality so, if that situation was to happen in your department what are your plans for handling it?

Granthum: I feel like a law officer should be held to a higher standard than the public. There is no place in our society for police brutality or any public corruption. ALL violations should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law with NO exceptions. An officer breaking the law should never be allowed to work in the peace officer field in any capacity.  

Shepard: Mistreatment of any citizen will not be tolerated, we will conduct a thorough in-depth investigation, I would request an outside agency to assist with the investigation depending on the severity of the allegations, the deputy would be placed on leave during the investigation and we will be transparent with the public. At the conclusion of the investigation the appropriate action will be taken based on the results, we will be fair, firm and stand by the findings based on the evidence. We would consult with the district attorney's office to determine if there would be any criminal charges in the case. If the allegations are proven to be false, we would publicly clear the deputy to return to duty.

What are your thoughts on the current bail system?  What, if any, changes would you like to see in how the bail system works in our community?

Granthum: Our current bail system is completely broken. It needs to be changed quickly. Some but not all of our bondsmen are making bonds for pennies on the dollar. For as long as I can remember, it has been a standard 8-10% of the bond must be paid to get out of jail. Two hundred-thousand-dollar ($200,000.00) bonds are being made with pennies down and then the rest paid monthly, even after payments, only a fraction of the 8-10% is being paid. This is a simple and easy fix, apply a cash bond system. Cash must be paid before being released from jail. A lot of other counties and municipalities have adopted the cash bond. I have raised this to our Judge before. The idea of cash bonds have previously fallen on deaf ears. 

Shepard: I believe the appropriate bail should be administered as provided by law. I believe bail should be based on the severity of the crime and other mitigating factors. I believe the victim should be taken into consideration, is there an immediate threat to the community, Is there a threat to the public.