By Sarah Lurie
As someone voting for the Blaine County Sheriff, I care about political party affiliation (both candidates have historically represented themselves as being from the same party (R)) but I also care deeply about the integrity, judgment, and social responsibility demonstrated by the candidate – all qualities needed to keep our community safe.
In my opinion, there may be certain positions where criminality doesn’t directly contradict the essence of the job, but Sheriff is not one of them. There may also be minor and isolated incidents in one’s youth or even adulthood that resolve and deserve grace. Blaine County Sheriff candidate Morgan Ballis would have you believe this is the case for him, choosing to talk about “his arrest for felony theft as a juvenile” that “shaped his commitment to justice.” However, upon personally reviewing multiple police reports from just one outside state (Arizona) and numerous documented interviews between law enforcement, victims and Ballis himself, I was left totally dumbfounded. I was dumbfounded that an individual with such a lengthy record reflecting criminal charges, which Ballis himself seemed to characterize as “heinous and grave” in his own press release, would attempt to infiltrate our community, and even run on a platform of supporting youth. I find the details of the police reports I reviewed too inappropriate to include in this letter, but I refer all to review the publicly available records associated with Ballis in Pima County, Arizona and make their own assessment as to whether he should be trusted with protecting our community, including interacting with students on a regular basis.
While some of Ballis’ record reflects conduct that occurred when he was a juvenile, I found the nature of the charges and what I would characterize as a pattern of criminal behavior very disturbing. Specifically, I refer you to the charge against Ballis (when under 18) and his friends for the possible rape of a juvenile girl (recorded on video by Ballis), which ultimately, the prosecutor’s office declined to prosecute (Pima County incident report no.020423369); a separate incident in which Ballis was observed swinging a baseball bat at a smaller vehicle with two female occupants (Pima County incident report 021024188); and another incident in which Ballis’ ex-wife reported to law enforcement “she had fears for the[ir] child[‘s] safety” when her child did not show up for a custody visit and that “she had been in active contact with detectives in the domestic violence unit….” (Pima County incident report no. 140330245) (separate from the incident in which law enforcement was called after Ballis hit his two-year old). This is a non-exhaustive summary.
Blaine County Sheriff’s office aptly lists its core values as: Integrity, “which is crucial to operational success as a vital aspect of the … Office”; Honesty “crucial to maintain a healthy relationship with peers, supervisors, and to maintain credibility….”; and Trust “obtained and attained so long as the other Core Values are maintained and attained.” I have serious concerns about Ballis serving in his current role as a representative of this office, let alone in a leadership role. Please help protect our community and dig into the facts before casting your vote for this important position.
Sarah Lurie is a JD candidate at Vermont Law School and a member of Aaron Hughston’s campaign for Blaine County Sheriff
