Coretta Scott King said, “The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.” This community has poured out its contagious compassion for my family. It always leaves us wanting to give back to others with the same concern we have been shown. The Warren County Community has been my home since I arrived as a student at WKU in 1988. My wife, Jana, and I have been blessed to live here and raise our family.
I was so very proud to earn your vote and be elected as your Warren County Sheriff in November 2018. We hit the ground running and did not look back. I came in with a plan to improve our school’s safety and have increased our School Resource Officer (SRO) program from five deputies to 23 deputies. We most recently added an SRO Detective to focus on school threats and significant cases involving our students. We are in the process of adding a specialized Vapor Wake K-9 that is trained to detect gunpower residue, fired handguns, and other ballistic materials. This dog will travel across our school district and be used for other specialized needs.
As Sheriff, meeting people where they live is instrumental in hearing your voice. I began conducting magisterial district meetings shortly after taking office and have conducted 21 of these meetings across Warren County. In addition, I have engaged in hundreds of other community meetings, speaking events, and group events at schools, businesses, HOAs, trainings, and government engagements. We have worked tirelessly to improve our response to critical incidences with the addition of our Chaplain team as well as our Crisis Response Unit to help those suffering from mental health crisis. We also vigorously worked with other elected officials, legislators, and LifeSkills to secure the drop-in center. This center will be front and center to assist and help manage those in crisis within the BRADD region, while freeing up our police manpower for other needed services.
I have led this community and our agency through a worldwide pandemic, all the while ensuring we maintained our emergency response to meet the needs of Warren County. Along with our Emergency Management Department, Bowling Green Police and Fire Departments, Mayor, and Judge Executive, I was front and center during the tragic tornado in 2021, assisting with search and rescue efforts as well as helping orchestrate the delivery of needed items for our citizens. I have served with numerous non-profit organizations such as the Salvation Army raising thousands of dollars to help the many needs of this community.
During the past seven years, we have harnessed technology to assist with the growth of Warren County, such as the implementation of body-worn cameras for patrol deputies and SROs, a new Computer Automated Dispatch System for our dispatch center, the GUTS tax system to streamline tax collections and office efficiency, drones to be used for accident reconstructions and other major crimes for mapping purposes, a reengineered website for the sharing of information and ways to report crimes anonymously, request traffic patrols, or contact your area supervisor. Lastly, with the newly remodeled state-of-the-art Sheriff’s Office training center and business office, we will vastly improve our regional training opportunities, services to the community, and overall efficiency.
The best way to gauge future behavior is looking at past behavior. I have spent over 32 years in law enforcement and have shown a strong and dedicated work ethic, fiscal responsibility both personally and professionally, hold high standards for employees, and have positive working relationships with other law enforcement leaders, community members, and other elected officials.
If you believe the named accomplishments above and the way our office has been run over the past seven years is in line with your expectations of a professionally-run office, I respectfully ask for your “vote” on May 19th, 2026. God bless Warren County and God bless the United States of America!
-submitted by Brett Hightower
Be the first to comment