Steve Bareis-R
Steve Bareis, 44, has been a deputy sheriff for the Perry County’s Sheriff Department for 12 years. He graduated second in his class from the Jefferson College Police Training Institute in Hillsboro, Missouri, in 1998. Prior to coming to Perry County he served as a reserve officer for the City of St. Clair, Missouri and chaplain for the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Troop C in Kirkwood, Missouri.
He would bring to the position education, a strong Christian faith and “a different leadership perspective” to the office of sheriff. “You have to make your people the best,” he said.
“I learned as a military officer a sheriff has to be a leader, not just a manager and boss. I want to be engaged with the communities and listen to what their needs are. “Keith (Kellerman) has made major strides,” Bareis said. “But we haven’t analyzed the law enforcement needs of the county and we need to take a proactive approach more than a reactive approach.” He said the department needs to strategically analyze the county and the data from their own work. “My personal faith has kept me from being jaded or complacent. I am analytical with self-control,” he said. “You have to be a role model and that is why I love working with kids.”
Bareis has served as a school resource officer in Perry County. He has provided drug, alcohol and safety education and has served as a community resource and teen counselor.
Bareis was instrumental in forming the Perry County Youth Court program which has been in existence since 2007.
This program diverts first time juvenile offenders out of Juvenile Court. This program has given numerous young people a chance to learn from past mistakes without maintaining a criminal record. It also gives young people the opportunity to serve on a peer jury as a partner in the juvenile justice system. He continues to volunteer as the Program Coordinator.
Bareis has served as co-leader of the county’s special response team which is part of the Perry County Drug Task Force. He has trained and donated two narcotic detection canines to the county and is serving as canine handler for the county. The K9 program has led to numerous drug interdictions, arrests, and convictions.
Bareis holds a bachelor of arts degree and a master’s degree. In 2008, Bareis received a direct commission into the United States Army as a first lieutenant. In 2009 he graduated from his Basic Officer Leadership Course at the United States Army Chaplain Center and School in Fort Jackson, South Carolina. In 2011, he graduated from his Captain’s Career Course. Bareis presently serves in the Illinois Army National Guard. He is assigned to the 33D (Headquarters) Military Police Battalion in Bloomington, Illinois. He serves as a battalion staff officer and the battalion chaplain.
Bareis has one daughter, age 10. They are active in the First Baptist Church of Du Quoin.
Bareis states that if elected, his primary goal as sheriff will be to restore public trust in the position by serving and protecting our communities with integrity, fairness, and public service. He believes in our second amendment rights and will do whatever possible to protect that right. Bareis said he knows the needs that exist within the Perry County Sheriff’s Department and will continue the school resource officer program with goals to add additional personnel.
He said he has developed a love for the community and a heart for the people of Perry County. He said if elected,”I will preserve the honor and the integrity of the department.”
Gale Reidelberger-R
Gale Reidelberger, 67, a retired Perry County deputy sheriff who rose to the rank of lieutenant while in the department, says he is seeking the office “to bale out a situation I know I can fix.”
He was a combat marine--the only combat veteran among the five candidates--and has a law enforcement career that spans 37 years. “I am a career law enforcement officer. I am NOT a politician,” Reidelberger said. “I’d like the chance. I’ll have the respect of deputies because I started from the bottom.”
“I now how to do the job and I can do it better given the opportunity. I am a man of my word and I keep my word. I go to church. I believe in God and I believe in hard work,” he said.
“I am a very good law enforcement officer who was promoted through merit instead of politics,” he said. “I have the experience. I don’t have the politics,” he said. “It is a job I enjoy.”
Reidelberger was the first to announce his candidacy following a caucus among Perry County Republican committeemen. He said, “It is important to get the public involved...even getting the neighborhood watch programs started again.” He said the public’s eyes are as valuable as the eyes of department members. That connectivity and approachability led to him having the best record of making arrests in the department.
Reidelberger was born in Perry County. He attended Granite City High School, served in the Marine Corps and is a Vietnam veteran. He worked at Granite City Steel in the accounting department, retired from the UMWA after 10 years, was a part-time Steeleville police officer, attended Belleville Area College Police Academy, was a full time Pinckneyville police officer (is currently part-time), and was lieutenant with the Perry County Sheriff’s Department. He retired after 24 years there. He has also worked with the SIU Police in the evidence department.
He said he was routinely called to assist in arduous and complicated investigations and his arrest record mirrors that ability.
He says he has the training to match the experience and it includes:
• Illinois Department of Corrections Training Academy (2), Chicago & Springfield - Grade A
• “How To Supervise People,” Rockhurst College Continuing Education Center
• Kinesics Interview & Interrogation Techniques
• At-Scene Motor Vehicle Traffic Accident Investigation, Northwestern University Traffic Techniques
• Emergency & Evasive Advanced Driver, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
• Law Enforcement Officers Training School FBI/Advanced Swat Training
• Hostage Negotiation, Southwestern Illinois Law Enforcement Commission
• Master Firearms Instructor, Police Training Institute of University of Illinois
• Basic Law Enforcement Photography, Southern Illinois Criminal Justice Training Program
• Burglary Investigation, Southern Illinois Criminal Justice Training Program
• Bank Robbery Procedures, Southern Illinois Criminal Justice Training Program
• Methamphetamine Lab, Safety & Awareness Training, Southern Illinois Criminal Justice Training Program
• Internal Affairs Investigations, Southern Illinois Criminal Justice Training Program
• Advanced Sniper, Springfield Police Academy, City of Springfield, IL, FBI Trained
• Criminal Patrol Drug Enforcement, Institute of Police Technology and Management University of North Florida
• Field Training Officer, State of Illinois Local Government Law Enforcement Officers training Board
• Illinois Governor’s Twenty Award/Illinois Police Combat Association (winner 6 different years, highest 9th place)
• Achievement of Distinction, Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists (Qty 2 years)
• Hunter Safety Instructor (10 years), Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
Dennis Cole-D
“I am running for one reason. We definitely need a change. With my leadership I can be a perfect fit,” says candidate Dennis Cole, 59.
“We need to increase rural patrols. I don’t believe they (Perry County’s small communities) should have to pay for patrols.”
He adds that the costs of dispatching ambulances should largely be covered by the department.
That differs from the belief of sheriff Kellerman and deputy Bareis, who call the communications room “a business” whose costs have to be covered.
Cole adds that county officers face “tough situations” with respect to the new concealed carry law and what he calls the “medical marijuana situation” and the department needs to start mapping the strategies to deal with these new issues and circumstances.
“We need to work more on the high chair (mentoring youth) instead of the electric chair.”
“I am humbled by the support I have been shown. I have not had a negative campaign. People know we need change,” he said.
“I will be fair and equal with employees,” he said.
Years ago Dennis Cole, 59, worked under then-Perry County Sheriff Jerry Woolsey as a deputy through the CETA (Comprehensive Employment & Training Act).
It launched a substantial career in Illinois Corrections from which he is now retired.
Last year Cole was elected to the Du Quoin Community Unit District 300 board of education.
Cole and wife Marsha have been married for over 30 years and have four children--Dennis Jr., Fallon, Misty and Coltin. He is retired from DOC having worked at the Menard Correctional Center and retiring from the Pinckneyville Correctional Center.
Under Sheriff Woolsey he was graduated from the Illinois State Police Academy and is a DOC academy graduate. At Menard he was a writ officer, firearms instructor, first aid and CPR training instructor and for four years was a DOC hostage negotiator.
He has Level E training for high escape risk inmates and death row inmates.
He was promoted and transferred to Pinckneyville Correctional Center as a supply supervisor II where he opened the inmate commissary and clothing house. He worked on payroll, budget and the work schedule, hiring and termination and audit functions.
“I will bring integrity, respectability and hard work to the department for the residents of Perry County and will maintain an open door policy. I will have accountability and moral fortitude,” he said.
“I have a strong moral code of ethics,” he said.
Cole is a member of Sacred Heart Church, the Du Quoin Elks, the Knights of Columbus and the American Legion, the Illinois State School Board Association, past member of the AFL-CIO and UMWA, past Youth Club board member, past zoning commission member, past president of the Perry County Young Democrats and has the support of UMWA Local 1145.
Cole said, “My vision is that service with integrity and respect will allow the Perry County Sheriff’s Department to rise to the level of respect. A law enforcement agency of our size should be a leader and innovator of crime prevention and community safety. My goal is to obtain that recognition by ensuring that each and every citizen feels safe and secure within their homes, communities and schools. By example, I will lead the men and women of the Perry County Sheriff’s Department into a future of unparalleled quality of service to the community based “squarely” on high morals, integrity and respect.”
Keith Kellerman-D
Incumbent Perry County Sheriff Keith Kellerman, 50, brings to the office military service in the United States Navy, the endorsement of the Perry County Democrat Central Committee and United Mineworkers of America.
He, his staff and the Perry County Drug Task Force also bring to the table substantial successes.
Kellerman has helped investigate and solve several high profile cases during his tenure including the murder of a Du Quoin taxi driver, a double murder in Du Quoin, a serial rapist terrorizing Du Quoin and Pinckneyville, the Sidnee Stevens murder and the Galum Church burning and attempted murder.
“The drug problem will always be there, but we are doing our job,” he said, citing his department’s work in the Jackson, Perry and Randolph County methamphetamine investigation that led to the indictment of 18 people. “We work hard and we don’t give up. We’ve brought the county a long way.”
“This job is a big challenge in many aspects,” he said. “Law enforcement, administration, care of the courthouse (mandated by Illinois statute), personnel and staffing and disciplinary decisions.”
Kellerman has served on the legislative commission of the Illinois Sheriff’s Association which was instrumental in mandating pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in making Methamphetamine, be kept behind the counter and the registration of those purchasing it.
First elected in 1998, Kellerman cited his fiscal policies that helped the county government pull out of persistent deficits, increasing revenue sources to the department and modernization of the department’s technology and equipment.
“When I took office, Perry County was troubled with persistent financial problems that forced it to borrow money against future tax collections just to pay bills,” Kellerman, who has spent 22 years with the department, said.
Kellerman’s fiscal accomplishments include:
• Renegotiated the contract with the U.S. Department of Justice to house federal prisoners resulting in an additional $100,000 in revenue a year
• Increasing the department’s pursuit of grant money resulting in the hiring of a Victim’s Advocate Officer (half the salary covered by a grant), the purchase of three new squad cars (one covered fully by grant money and the two others at 75 percent grant money)
•Establishing an ankle bracelet monitoring system to reduce costs to the jail by putting low-risk inmates under house arrest
•Reduction in staff from 52 employees in 1998 to 48 employees today without sacrificing service or protection
Kellerman said he has also been a leader in adopting new technologies. He created a department website to better communicate with citizens, started CARETRAK to help quickly locate patients with Alzheimer’s disease who may have wandered from home and assisted in the development of a new software program that allows area law enforcement agencies to share information about local criminal activity.
Community outreach has also been an important goal of Kellerman’s, he said. During his tenure he has awarded 60 scholarships to local students to help them continue their education, sponsored the Perry County Youth Court to keep first time juvenile offenders out of criminal court and has worked with the U.S. Attorney’s Office on a heroine/drug awareness program.
Kellerman is a lifelong Perry County resident and Pinckneyville Community High School graduate. He also holds degrees from Rend Lake College and Temple University in criminal justice. He spent four years in the Navy before joining the department.
Jerry Speers-D
Retired Perry County Sheriff’s deputy Jerry Speers, 67, is plain-spoken about his life, his late wife and his desire to serve residents as sheriff.
Above all else, he is asking voters to vote. “If voters don’t vote, a candidate never has the chance to get into the general election,” he said.
“The sheriff’s department has turned into a family-run business,” he said.
“What’s going on now is all wrong,” he says, hoping to improve the connectivity between the department and the communities.
“You should surround yourself with good sergeants and the sergeants have the help and respect of the sheriff,” he said.
“You have to transfer respect to your staff,” he said.
He said the sheriff’s department, by its dynamic and mandate, is entrusted with providing security and protection for rural Perry County. “Our job is STILL the unincorporated areas unless we are asked to assist,” he said. “We need to make the county the safest county in the state,” he said.
“The problem now is that the sheriff’s department doesn’t want to change. It is happy with the way things are,” he said.
He said the department needs to improve on its relationship with other departments. “The sheriff’s department and the state police have issues,” he said, without going into detail.
Speers said that, by its nature, a sheriff’s office is a political office, but adds that somewhere they need to hang up a sign with two words: “Fight Crime”--fighting crime envelopes everything.
Speers said there have been a lot of successes in the department--and he was very a much a part of those successes as a deputy and wants to be part of them again as sheriff.
Personally, there are some simple truths to his life that he shares.
Foremost, was the love he had for his late wife, Renee Speers, who died from cancer. “She lived and led by example,” he said. “That’s what I would do as sheriff--lead by example.” Daughter Wendy and son Grant were born from that marriage.
“I grew up in Greenwood Addition (on Du Quoin’s east side),” he said. It was a tough life, raised by a single mother. He learned welding and worked for Consolidation Coal Company’s Burning Star No. 2 mine for 28 years. He was proud of his work. A lot of it was metal fabrication on work on the large shovel and stripping wheel booms. He said when the mine closed, retired Sheriff Sam Hiller sent him to the police academy and he became a deputy.
In retirement, he developed the popular Speers Barbecue. He spent a year working to raise the foundation of the home he and Renee had built after perennial flooding. She passed away in their home and he fulfilled a dream that they had of building a concrete drive from the Old Du Quoin Blacktop up to the house. The projects took a year.
He met girlfriend Phyllis Schneider largely through her son, Mike Schneider, a Perry County deputy. Phyllis and husband Tom owned the Du Quoin Dairy Queen and he passed away too early, as well.
They have worked together to grow their barbecue and catering business alongside that driveway that he built in his wife’s memory. The relationship is strong and Speers values it. The only thing they fought about was who made the best potato salad.
Speers wants to right some wrongs by being elected sheriff and serving the people again. He says that if this race doesn’t work out, he is blessed by the life that he has and all that it holds for he and Phyllis.
