It was proverbial Groundhog’s Day in Lake City last Friday afternoon, July 12, as a repeat Hinsdale County Sheriff, Ron Bruce, was once again sworn into office as interim sheriff.
As a quick recap, there have been a total of 38 sheriffs in Hinsdale County since its creation 150 years ago, in February, 1874. Bruce, who has the distinction being both the county’s 35th and 38th sheriff in line of succession, was first elected to the office in 2007 and was re-elected to multiple terms prior to retiring from office in 2019.
He was succeeded by Justin Casey who briefly served as Hinsdale County Sheriff from 2019 until resigning in 2020, and — most recently —Christopher Kambish who was appointed to the post in 2019 and elected to a four-year term in 2020.
Sheriff Kambish announced his resignation earlier this summer and his last day in office was last Friday, July 12.
Hinsdale County Commissioners reviewed possible interim successor to Sheriff Kambish and at their late June meeting unanimously named Bruce as interim successor.
Bruce, who was ebullient last Friday as he received his oath of office from Deputy Hinsdale County Clerk Allison Athey, will fill the office through this fall’s General Election in November when a successor will be elected and take office in January, 2025.
There are three candidates for the office of Hinsdale County Sheriff, Denim Starnes previously a deputy and named Undersheriff by Bruce earlier in the day on Friday, J.T. Stratton, and former Hinsdale County Undersheriff Jordan Kaminski.
As reported elsewhere this week, Kaminski successfully applied to the Hinsdale County Republican Vacancy Committee to seek election in November. Denim is an Unaffiliated candidate for Sheriff who will be listed on this fall’s ballot after submitting a petition signed by registered Hinsdale County voters; Stratton is a write-in candidate for Hinsdale Sheriff who filed paperwork with Hinsdale County Clerk Robert on Monday this week prior to the Wednesday, July 17 deadline.
Jovial at last Friday’s swearing in, Sheriff Bruce looked out across the packed Coursey Annex meeting room stating he was both “thankful and humbled” by the opportunity to come out of retirement and once again serve the residents of Hinsdale County as sheriff.
“I need your support and prayers,” he said, noting that in the interim post he plans to learn from past mistakes and move on. Recalling President Eisenhower’s hallowed motto, he said that as head of the sheriff’s office, “the buck stops here.”
Again, drawing audience applause, Bruce said, “you have me for six months, but it’s the last bite of the apple.”
He referenced current office operations as “topsy turvy” with multiple resignations in recent weeks and said it was the directive of Hinsdale County Commissioners that he “pull it together and return the office to a smooth-running machine.”
Sheriff Bruce drew applause in stating an immediate goal: “I want staff to be happy to come to work.”
It was at this point that he announced former Hinsdale Sheriff’s Office Deputy Denim Starnes has been promoted to Hinsdale Undersheriff; Undersheriff Starnes and Deputies Sarah Poet and Mark Zeckser will also be joined on a temporary basis by Lake City local Tom Carl, formerly a deputy with the department, who has agreed to return to ranks.
Sheriff Bruce ominously stated, “there are a couple of people I have my eye on who will be unhappy unless they change their lives.”
The newly appointed sheriff indicated that his first two weeks in office will be slow as he recuperates from minor bladder surgery which was scheduled on Thursday this week. “I’ll have a week of light duty,” he said, “but after that I’ll be out meeting folks.”
From the audience, Hinsdale County Commissioners Robert Hurd and Kristie Borchers added their congratulations, Borchers also extending best wishes to Chris Kambish and his family as they move on to the next phase of their lives.
Among those in the congratulatory audience — which included the new sheriff’s wife, Diane Bruce, dressed in red, white and blue in a front row seat — on Friday was Bruce’s old friend, strapping former Texas Ranger Nick Hanna who is now Sheriff of Tom Green County near San Angelo.
Raising his hand in greeting to Hanna, Bruce — a former Arizona state patrolman prior to Lake City — told the audience, “In my next life I want to come back as a Texas Ranger.”
