Few fireworks in the first face-to-face for sheriff between Larry Smith and Chris Green

Published 8:39 pm Thursday, January 21, 2016

The tenor and messages of Sheriff Larry Smith and challenger Chris Green during their first face-to-face forum was reminiscent of four years ago when the two vied for the position of top lawman in Smith County.

More than 80 people, including local Republican activists, leaders, elected officials and candidates filled the main events room at Traditions Restaurant for the forum between the two candidates Thursday.

Green, 53, is a retired 20-year Texas Parks and Wildlife game warden turned petroleum landman.

Smith, 59, has 34-year law enforcement career, which began in the Gregg County Sheriff’s Office and transitioned into federal agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives before becoming sheriff.

The two candidates faced each other in a runoff during the race for sheriff in 2011 after the retirement of Sheriff J.B. Smith.

Smith said he kept promises made during the previous campaign. He said he reduced response times, improved patrol coverage and transparency and achieved 100 percent homicide case resolution, while reinforcing working relationships with other local, state and federal law enforcement.

“I’ve been the CEO for almost four years, and I know the different needs in the department and we’re out in the community to find what the needs of the citizens are,” he said.

He admitted there had been bumps along the way, including the arrests of five department employees. But he said those arrests and other dismissals show he is weeding out corruption and staff unfit for the standards of his administration.

Green said the bumps are signs of ineffectiveness and poor decision-making in Smith’s first term as sheriff.

“Six, eight months after the election, I started hearing from people and seeing headlines about trouble (in the department),” Green said. “I’ve been encouraged to run again, because there are issues in (Smith’s) record that need to be addressed.”

Green said the inability to work with the District Attorney’s office to prepare cases within the 90-day window allowed criminals to go free on bail. He questioned why there has been difficulty adequately staffing and utilizing the $35 million jail expansion. He also suggested there were trust and transparency problems, such as a deputy receiving higher compensation for a bogus degree under Smith’s watch.

Smith said his staff is a fine group of law enforcement officers and that there have been issues that have been worked out. He said communication breakdowns with the district attorney’s office have been addressed, that the jail is 100 percent staffed for the first time in his tenure and that staff issues, from the bogus degree to other infractions, have been dealt with.

Both candidates agreed that drugs are the major contributor to crime. They agreed much of the methamphetamine, heroin and other drugs entering Smith County originate from Mexico and transnational gangs.

Green said the sheriff’s office needs more Hispanic deputies patrolling and building trust within Hispanic communities to curtail drug trafficking. He said the sheriff’s office should do a better job patrolling drug activity beyond the major corridors and focus on communities around the county.

Smith said transnational gangs are a serious problem and that he hopes the next legislative session would create opportunities for his and other departments to cooperate with Texas agencies and other border states to address the problem.

There also was some disagreement.

Green noted the 10 homicide cases the sheriff’s office had closed and said they didn’t classify as “who-done-its” that required extensive detective work.

Smith said his staff would take exception to that and that Green was “entitled to his opinion but not entitled to distort facts.”

Smith said he believes his record as sheriff shows the office is moving in the right direction and that his vision for its future would be best for the county and residents.

Green touted his resume, which includes a business degree, owning a small business in the past and his law enforcement experience, as the most rounded of the two candidates. He said he is the best qualified to lead the department.

“The sheriff is an administrator,” he said. “You put the right people in the right places and treat them well and let them do their job.”

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