Compiled by the League of Women Voters

The League of Women Voters of the Stevens Point Area is committed to providing voters with education about issues and candidates for local elections. On Nov. 8, voters in Portage County will choose from two candidates – Mike Lukas and Scott Noble – to serve the county for the upcoming sheriff’s term. The league solicited responses to the following questions from both candidates.

Mike Lukas

Share with us your educational background and work experience that make you the best candidate for Portage County Sheriff:

I have over 30 years of law enforcement experience; 28 years here at the Portage County Sheriff’s Office.  While working in Portage County I was on patrol for eight years, worked 12 years as a supervisor and have been Sheriff for the last 8 years.  I have been involved with many department programs and supervised in numerous areas, including: Firearms Training and Safety programs, the Special Response Team, Court Services, Officer Training, Department of Natural Resources programs, and School Resource programs.  I have also worked as a field training officer and a detective.

During the past eight years as Sheriff, I was able to coordinate with the county’s towns and villages to get sub stations for our officers, I fought against the placement of out of county violent sexual offenders in Portage County, I secured over a million dollars in donations and grant funding for needed equipment in the Sheriff’s Office, implemented new law enforcement reporting software, finalized our new communications tower project, increased staffing in both patrol and the communications center, and I’ve overseen a budget of over 15 million dollars. 

I have 8 years of experience as Portage County Sheriff and I know what the job requires.  I have shown that the citizens of Portage County, our county board members, other elected officials, and my staff, respect me—and we’ve been able to work together to accomplish many goals aimed at making Portage County safer.  I have always been deeply involved in this community, not just since I’ve been Sheriff, but the entire time I’ve been in law enforcement.  I’ve worked hard to build and maintain strong relationships within the community and I pride myself on always being available.  I recognize the importance of our community in assisting in law enforcement. I’m also the only candidate that has both supervisory and budget experience.  Being responsible for a staff of over 100 and a $15+ million budget are things that I take quite seriously.  My goal has always been to hire and train the best people possible to help in carrying out the responsibilities of the Sheriff’s Office, while making sure I am being fiscally responsible to the people of Portage County.

What are your thoughts about the training and policies that need to be in place within the Portage County Sheriff’s Department to ensure the appropriate use of force when making an arrest?

The state of Wisconsin and Portage County have strict policies in regards to the use of force.  Our deputies are trained on this many times during the year and check off on policies in our office.  The force option continuum is taught when going through the recruit academies and is adhered through each law enforcement office throughout the state.  Portage County also has a use of force review that we do on any arrest that has force used.  The accountability for the officers and public have been in place during my tenure as Sheriff for the past 8 years.

What is your position regarding the court house and jail location as that project develops?

When I took over 8 years ago, we thought we might be able to remodel the current jail.  We had a firm come in to consult and after extensive research, found that the cost would be $26 million to bring the jail up to code for DOC (Department of Corrections) 350.  Simply remodeling would not increase the size of the jail and we would still have a linear type of jail which is staff prohibitive.  At that time, no decision was made to solve all of our problems.  Since then, as facilities have degenerated, maintenance has been done through a patchwork process. We are now to the point that our HVAC system is not working, we have plumbing backups, and closets are being used for offices.  It is time for a real solution.  I understand the costs associated with building, but we need to act now for not only staff safety, but for inmate safety.  We have no space in the jail to run the current programs offered to assist our inmates.  These programs are essential for an inmate’s reentry back into society.  The inmates that are shipped to other counties don’t have nearly as many options for programs as those that are offered here in Portage County.  Due to a lack of space, we have contracted jail beds through other counties for an average cost of $550,000 a year since 2000, with a total cumulative cost of nearly 12 million dollars.  I have always had the opinion that we should let the experts decide what is needed and where the structures should be located.  Pushing for a real solution to the need for space in the both the Portage County Courthouse and Portage County Jail will be a top priority for me, if I am reelected.

How do you see the sheriff’s department addressing potential threats in our community by individuals and extremist groups in instances such as election site security and public demonstrations?

The Sheriff’s Office has a risk assessment that we do on any threat to individuals or establishments.  There are many factors that are incorporated into this assessment and many agencies can be involved.  The biggest thing is the members of law enforcement need to be in the communities and meeting with all groups to better understand each situation.  Involvement is a key factor to prevention.  In the past years, I have been able to hire community deputies for just this cause.  The community deputies are key to listening to people and groups and bringing back information so we can address issues before it becomes a problem.

What training is received by the Sheriff’s Department personnel to respond effectively to dangerous mental health situations? What more can be done to resolve these incidents to provide the best outcome for all those involved?

The members of the Sheriff’s Office from operations division, corrections division and communications division go through either Crisis Intervention Partner(CIP) or Crisis intervention Training(CIT).   These training are designed to give Deputies, Corrections Officers and Communication Technicians the knowledge on how to deal with all types of situations and de-escalation techniques.  Currently there are not enough treatment facilities in our area for the demand of individuals looking for mental health treatment.  The state needs to make more regional facilities for people looking for help.   

Scott Noble

Share with us your educational background and work experience that make you the best candidate for Portage County Sheriff:

My family goes back very far in the county’s history. My grandfather was Harry Noble and he was president of the Junction City School Board. My father and my aunts walked from the Noble Family Farm to the one room school where my grandmother Irene Noble was the teacher. I am a 3rd generation educator out of the UWSP School of Education program. My grandmother, my mother Maria Louise Berard Noble and I all went through the storied and prestigious teaching program. I needed to have over a 3.8 GPA to get admitted to the program and I made it in with just over that (I had a 3.9). I also went through the Rural and Native American Social Work Program. I teach Sociology, History and Social Studies with my areas of research, study and interest in Race Relations, Social Stratification, Social Work, Alcohol and Drug Addiction, Mental Health, Social Justice, Criminology and Deviance. I started working in mental health right out of high school at Norwood Health Center in Marshfield. I was trained as a Psychiatric Technician and worked on an acute psychiatric unit where we dealt with 51:15 (Suicide) and 51:45 (Alcohol) detentions. I worked in that for about a decade. I finished my undergraduate studies and got placed by Professor Smart from the Social Work Program to Child Protection Services as an Indian Child Welfare Social Worker. I had clients all over the state, country and even in Canada. I taught at a group home in Plover and at the Fernandez Alternative School in Stevens Point. I taught in inner city schools around the state and taught out of state, also. I ran a state licensed CBD processing and sales business in Portage, Wood and Taylor Counties. The now-defunct program that involved cannabis is now at the federal level (rather than the state) as of the beginning of the year. We as a department will work with the community to make sure all these policies are followed by all agencies within the county.

What are your thoughts about the training and policies that need to be in place within the Portage County Sheriff’s Department to ensure the appropriate use of force when making an arrest?

The appropriate use of force is determined by the threat posed by the suspect. The situation needs to be evaluated properly as to the level of threat. Is the suspect armed, unarmed, fleeing or cooperating? The five degrees of force that can be used in order on a suspect are: 1. Physical Presence 2. Verbalization 3. Empty-Hand Control 4. Less Lethal Methods 5. Lethal Force. All deputies in the new department will start with the least forceful methods when making an arrest. We will focus on de-escalation methods. Citizens should be free of any unreasonable search and seizure. Citizens should not be subjected to any cruel or unusual punishment. The 4th, 5th, 8th and 14thAmendments all speak very clearly to the use of deadly force and as to how our department will handle these situations. The new department will treat citizens with dignity and respect.

What is your position regarding the court house and jail location as that project develops?

We will be moving away from incarceration and towards rehabilitation. We will be reducing recidivism by implementing a new job-training program right inside our current jail. We will be training inmates for jobs in construction and the trades to begin and will expand to other career options as we move forward over the next 4 years. We will see a reduction in the need for incarceration as we move forward with a focus on rehabilitation, mental health services and job training. We will not need to build a new jail and court in the industrial park. It will take a lot of education, training and a significant change in our budget as we will not see a need to build a new jail going forward as our current one will serve us well. We need to move the focus from incarceration to rehabilitation for those in need of AODA, mental health and homelessness issues. Many of them served in the military and in our community organizations, churches and extended families in many ways we appreciate so much. We need to keep our families close-knit, strong and together with services that they need to succeed in life. We need to de-prioritize cannabis laws that do not serve the people of this county. Cannabis is not a “gateway” to severely addictive and dangerous drugs. Many of the most concerning drugs are prescribed and picked up at the pharmacy. Cannabis is an “exit ramp” off these dangerous substances that are destroying our county communities rural and urban.

How do you see the Sheriff’s Department addressing potential threats in our community by individuals and extremist groups in instances such as election site security and public demonstrations?

We will uphold the 1st Amendment. Demonstrations will be peaceful. We as a department will be encouraging political activism. We will not tolerate any property destruction. We will not tolerate any violence. We will support any and all groups that would like to engage in our political discourse. We will not view any group as extreme. Public meetings will be open to the public. No doors to public meetings will be locked. We as a department will press charges against any government bodies in the county that deny access to public meetings. We will observe the open meetings laws that have been ignored by the current department.

What training is received by the Sheriff’s Department personnel to respond effectively to dangerous mental health situations? What more can be done to resolve these incidents to provide the best outcome for all those involved?

This is one of the top concerns of the citizens in Portage County. There has not been any training in dealing with dangerous situations involving citizens with mental health issues. The current department has been releasing citizens with mental illness to the streets of Portage County as homeless from institutions like prison, our jail and even hospitals. This is a recipe for disaster and this will not be tolerated once the new department is sworn in. I will begin an intensive training program (that I will teach personally) to ensure that all our deputies have all the knowledge, skills and abilities required for the safe handling of dangerous situations with citizens that are struggling with mental health issues. This is a top priority of the new department. We will serve and protect the citizens of Portage County. We will uphold the constitutional rights and civil liberties of all citizens in the county.