Jeff Barnes Makes Case For Laramie County Sheriff’s Race

Independent Laramie County Sheriff candidate Jeff Barnes says the first thing he wants people to know about him is that "I'm a cop, not a politician."

Barnes was a guest on the ''Weekend in Wyoming"  program this past Saturday morning at 11:05 a.m.

You can hear his entire interview in the audio file attached to this article. In the interview, Barnes says he has 21 years of experience with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department rising to the rank of Lieutenant and command of the on-scene hostage negotiation team, among other duties.

He says those duties included coordinating police coverage for all major events in the city.

Barnes says he also served for 26 months in military law enforcement with airborne units in Afghanistan, including work on counter-terrorism and intelligence gathering, in addition to a long list of other law-enforcement positions over the years.

Locally, Barnes cited five years as a resident deputy with the Laramie County Sheriff's office, working in the eastern and western portions of Laramie County.

Barnes is the only independent in the race and because he does not face a primary election, he will not be on the Aug. 16 primary ballot.

But he has qualified for the general election ballot. In that race he will face one of three Republican candidates, Boyd Wrede, Brian Kozak, or Don Hollingshead. Democrat Jess Fresquez is also on the ballot for Laramie County Sheriff.

You can hear the entire Jeff Barnes interview, covering a wide range of topics, below: