Dear people of Lake City andthe County of Hinsdale,

There are maxims of law that state: “The meaning of words is the spirit of the Law”; “The origin of a thing ought to be regarded”; “In order rightly to comprehend a thing, enquire first into their names, for a right knowledge of things depends upon their names”; and, “That person should be chosen who best understands, and is willing and able to perform the duty of the office”. The etymological root of the word sheriff comes from the Old English scīrgerēfa, or Shire Reeve. Reeve meaning guardian or keeper, and the modern-day equivalent of shire being county, therefore, the sheriff is the guardian or keeper of the county. In ancient England he was the King’s primary executive representative who carried out the sovereign’s orders and decrees within the shire or county. Yet, here on American soil we have no king, because thankfully for the brave and righteous founders at their revolution the sovereignty devolved on the people. (see: Chisholm v Georgia). Thus, the American sheriff holding a constitutional and common-law office was instituted by them to be the first man of and the principal executive representative of the people within his county. Do you all truly think, as your current interim sheriff would have you believe, that a man of 44 years of age allegedly in law enforcement for 17 years who requires counselling for, and I quote: “stubbing his toe a few times”, is the “best candidate available” to be your sheriff or guardian of the county? I certainly don’t believe so, especially given my firsthand knowledge of the facts regarding the situation. I hereby implore to the good people of this great county to elect either myself [write-in STRATTON], or Jordan Kaminski, to acquire a sheriff who will faithfully endeavor to virtuously carry out the will of the people within our county. Another maxim pertaining thereto that is perhaps one of my favorites is: “The voice of the people is the voice of God”, or properly in Latin: “Vox populi vox Dei”. Which is precisely why, with free and honest elections, in our Constitutional Republic it is the People of the county who shall decide who they wish to hold the high and noble office of sheriff. Furthermore, if the people have any true interest in gathering some knowledge of what constitutes, “stubbing his toes”, as was recently stated by your interim sheriff in his letter, I strongly recommend that you all search there on YouTube: Stratton vs Starnes,[https://youtu.be/HWYVInnvbAY?si=LP6njkjKzPwdG1h ], to view and hear for yourselves the only evidence lawfully produced thus far by the S.O. Quite frankly, in my view no one who behaves in this way while on duty and wielding deadly force acting under the delegated authority of the people should be allowed to even be a deputy, let alone sheriff. I sure hope that y’all will vote accordingly.
_{Respectfully and Sincerely,
JT Stratton, Write-in Sheriff candidate}