Boone County Sheriff Dwayne Carey, Charles Blair run against each other in 2020 rematch

BOONE COUNTY, Mo. (KMIZ)

On Aug. 6, Boone County residents will vote to either reelect Sheriff Dwayne Carey or elect his opponent Charles Blair.

Carey and Blair both ran for sheriff in 2020, where Carey won with 67% of the vote.

In 2020, Blair ran as a Republican. However, both candidates are running as Democrats in 2024. There is no Republican or Libertarian candidate, meaning whoever wins the August primary will appear on the November ballot unopposed.

Blair said his motivation to run again -- despite losing four years ago -- stems from wanting to make changes he finds critical within the department.

Blair said Carey has issues with availability and transparency.

"The sheriff answers to the voters and I don't think he's been transparent, I don't think that he's been available," Blair said. "I don't think we've heard from the sheriff, I don't think people hear from him at all. He usually has like a public affairs person that speaks for him."

Carey -- who has served as sheriff since winning the 2004 election -- criticized Blair's credentials to be sheriff.

"He has no experience to do the job," Carey said. "He's never been a you know, first line supervisor...he's never been in management, he's never worked on a budget, he's never managed a jail. So he's just really under qualified for what a sheriff's office office requires out of a sheriff."

Carey was born and raised in Boone County and has worked for the sheriff's office for 35 years.

Blair has worked in law enforcement for 36 years at four different agencies. Before moving to Boone County nine years ago, he lived and worked in law enforcement in California. Blair thinks Carey should be more involved in the community. He said as sheriff, he believes he should be going to more City Council meetings and working to talk with the public, something he plans to do, if elected.

Blair also said, if elected, he hopes to create a citizens review board for the county, have more open public forums, and bring back the explorer and school resource officer programs.

"It's great public relations to have a school resource officer in the school...kids get to see the human side of police as they grow up and are you know, absorbing information," Blair said. Something where we have like an open house where I can invite people to the sheriffs office and I can answer any questions, concerns."

Carey said if he's reelected, he hopes to continue to see growth in current projects the department is working on. These include a new training center, the internet crimes task force, the crisis intervention teams and a child care center for first responders at the department.

"So, you can do reduced cost child care, guaranteed child care... so it's going to be a game changer on hiring and retention," Carey said. "And then once we get our feet underneath us, we're going to expand that to other first responders because the biggest issue...child care is hard to find, it's expensive."

Both Blair and Carey said one of their main focuses is driving down crime rates in the county.

Blair said he thinks the presence of more deputies patrolling neighborhoods around the city is a good place to start, adding making people feel comfortable to contact the sheriffs office is also crucial.

"You got to get people out there in the communities talking to people," Blair said. "I mean, the police departments, the sheriff's department is useless without the people...you got to get people out there first, and you got to get people who are also willing to call and feel comfortable about calling and asking the the sheriff's department to investigate things."

Carey said he believes good communication between the sheriff's office and Columbia Police Department is the key.

"So, I think partnerships are such a big thing," Carey said. "People don't realize maybe all the time that the City of Columbia and the county of Boone, we're sharing a lot of the same bad guys, and and so that communication is key for a good concerted effort to get those individuals off the street."

The full interview with Carey can be watched here.

The full interview with Blair can be watched here.