Harvey County Sheriff T. Walton

MISSION STATEMENT The mission of the Harvey County Sheriff's Office is to protect our communities by providing service, which will ensure that our county is a safe place to live, work, play and visit. It is essential that we hold ourselves accountable to the highest ethical standards being committed to and demanding nothing less than excellence from ourselves. We will strive as an organization to obtain and preserve the trust of the citizens we serve through an open and honest administration that emphasizes service to the citizens. We are committed to this mission and will conduct our responsibility with dedication to the citizens we proudly serve.

1. 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m., midnight, on July 1, 2, 3, and 4th, fireworks shall be allowed to be discharged, unless otherwise restricted. With the 4th of July Federal Holiday being observed on July 5th, fireworks are allowed an additional day between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 12:00 a.m., midnight this year.
2. Fireworks are to be discharged on private or residential property during dates and times specified only. An adult with ownership, residing on the property, must not only give permission for discharging of fireworks on his/her said property but that adult must also be "in near proximity, and shall supervise the use, explosion adn/or discharge of fireworks on such property."
3. Self-propelled fireworks consisting of a tube with a guiding stick or rod attached will not be allowed to be possessed, discharged, exploded, or used.
4. There will be no discharging or exploding of fireworks upon public roads, streets, highways, avenues, allies, or in public parks, or places within Harvey County unless approved in writing by the Harvey County Board of County Commissioners.
5. No fireworks will be allowed to be thrown, cast or propelled into the direction of people, groups, animals, toward or from cars, vehicles, motorcycles, or other forms of transportation.

All questions regarding fireworks, discharge of fireworks, public displays,
or this resolution need to be directed to the
Emergency Management Office at (316) 284-6910.
 

From the desk of Sheriff T. Walton

On January 12, 2009, the new Harvey County Sheriff, T. Walton, was sworn into office by District Judge, Richard Walker. Undersheriff, Todd Hanchett was sworn in and the Sheriff's Department took on a new look. Sheriff Walton and Undersheriff Hanchett have over 40 years combined experience in Law Enforcement. Sheriff Walton promoted Mark Hardtarfer to Chief Deputy. This new administration looks forward to serving the citizens of Harvey County. Plans are being made through the Sheriff's Office to work with various agencies in the County to provide educational programs for schools, and families. We are proud to be working with Community in Schools, Heart to Heart Child Advocacy Center, the O.S.C.A.R. Task force and the McGruff program. Cooperation with other agencies is a must in today's tight budgets and limited resources. By working together we can all provide much more for the citizens of Harvey County. The Harvey County Sheriff's Office is on duty 24 hours a day, and seven days a week. As Officers, we are dedicated to the citizens we serve. We all want Harvey County to be a great place to live and raise our families.

Welcome to the Harvey County Sheriff's Office. The office of Sheriff is a very old one. It dates back to England over 1,000 years ago, when the Sheriff was a member of the royal family. The word sheriff is a combination of "shire," meaning county, and "reeve," meaning keeper of; which means the sheriff is the keeper of the county. The office came to the American continent with the first settlers. Although the image has changed, many of the duties remain the same. In Kansas, the office of Sheriff was established before Statehood was achieved. In some areas of the Kansas Territory, the Sheriff was the only law enforcement. In 1855, general statutes for the Territory of Kansas set procedures for electing a Sheriff. When Kansas became a state in 1861, the office of Sheriff was among the first established. The Sheriff is elected by the citizens of his/her county for a four-year term. The Harvey County Sheriff's office is a modern, full service law enforcement agency. It is the duty of the Sheriff to keep and preserve the peace in their respective counties, protect life and property, prevent crime and enforce all state and county laws and resolutions, arrest violators and assist citizens when aid is needed.

DUTIES OF THE SHERIFF Shall have the charge and custody of the county jail, and all the prisoners in jail. Shall serve and execute, according to law, all process writs, precepts and orders issued by the District Court. Conduct investigations into all crimes and traffic accidents. Proper handling and security of criminal evidence. Transport prisoners to correctional facilities, state hospitals or elsewhere by order of the court. In charge of District Court security when requested by the Judge. Assist all municipal, state and federal agencies when requested. Collect delinquent taxes. Conduct court ordered sales of property. Extradite persons wanted in the county from other states. Responsible for planning, research and budget preparation. Responsible for the hiring and supervision of Undersheriff and deputies. Responsible for the proper handling, care and maintenance of equipment assigned to him/her and his/her deputies.

SHERIFF'S OFFICE

Harvey County, which is located in south central Kansas, was formed in 1872. Since that time, 30 individuals have held the position of Sheriff. The county has a population of 34,200 people and encompasses 540 square miles, which includes 1,088 miles of roads. The county is more than 82 percent urban population, with 60.9 persons per square mile; nearly double the population density for Kansas as a whole. Of the 105 counties in Kansas, only 11 have population densities greater than that of Harvey County. Sheriff's deputies drive approximately 350,000 miles per year. The office consists of the Sheriff, Undersheriff, Chief Deputy, 2 investigators, 1 Road Deputy Sergeant, 10 road deputies, 1 Transport/Warrant Deputy,  20 detention deputies and 2 office deputies.

Sheriff T. Walton
Undersheriff Todd Hanchett
Chief Deputy Mark Hardtarfer
Sergeant Scott Perkins

Programs of the Harvey County Sheriff's Office

The Harvey County Sheriff's Department maintains a number of programs for the safety and benefit of the citizens of Harvey County.

• OSCAR --On Line Sex Crime Apprehend and Remove-- OSCAR was developed in January of 2008 by Asst Chief Bill Koonce of the North Newton Police Department and Sheriff Walton. OSCAR is a task force made up of a variety of law enforcement officers throughout Harvey County. Specialized computer training has been provided to the Task Force members in order to seek out those individuals who trade and store images of child pornography via the internet and their home computers. OSCAR also provides education to children and families about internet safety and what to watch out for when surfing the net or getting into chat rooms. If your group or organization would like a speaker to talk about OSCAR, contact the Sheriff's office at 316-284-6069.
• Heart to Heart Child Advocacy Center-- Sheriff Walton was the founder of Heart to Heart Child Advocacy Center. Heart to Heart addresses the issues of child abuse. Heart to Heart is supported by the community and is available to all specialized trained officers to use in their investigation of child abuse. The Harvey County Sheriff's Office has three qualified Deputies who have gone through an intense one week training program to learn how to interview children. Heart to Heart is a non profit serving all the children and families of Harvey County as well as Marion and McPherson County. More information of Heart to Heart can be found on their web site at www.hearttoheartcac.com
• Emergency Response Team (ERT)--ERT was founded in 1990 as a collaborative effort among numerous agencies in Harvey County to address high risk incidents in our common jurisdiction. ERT's mission statement defines the unit as a life saving organization. ERT is not just a Harvey County Sheriff's Office or Newton PD operation. ERT serves all of the cities in Harvey County and even surrounding counties. ERT enjoys a respected reputation in this region of Kansas as a solid, well established and superbly performing unit.
• Offender Watch --Offender Watch allows the citizens of Harvey County to search our data base for those individuals who are required to register for certain criminal acts.  By going to the Offender Watch link, you may be able to see all registered offenders in Harvey County or locate Offenders living near your home.  Offender watch allows the citizens of Harvey County to sign up for direct email notification whenever an offender moves in close proximity to where you live.

Harvey County Deputies patrol the County 24 hours a day and seven days a week. Deputy Shawn Chapman has been specially trained to interview children at the Heart to Heart Child Advocacy Center and is a member of the OSCAR task force and a member of the Heart to Heart CAC task force.

Deputy Brad Good provides Harvey County with his services through active patrol and civil process. Deputy Good has received special training in motor carrier law protecting our roads and bridges by checking truck weights for proper and legal load bearing transports.

SHERIFF'S OF HARVEY COUNTY

Harvey County Sheriff's Office 1938
Sheriff Les Monroe (sitting), Undersheriff Harry Goodman (standing right side)
and Deputy Bruce Walker (standing left side)

1. 1872 - 1873 W.M. Chamberlain
2. 1873 - 1874 C.A. Tracy
3. 1874 - 1876 George Hagerty
4. 1876 - 1878 S.D. Leonard
5. 1878 - 1882 H.H. McAdams
6. 1882 - 1886 John F. Wafer
7. 1886 - 1890 James Ryan
8. 1890 - 1894 E.E. Pollard
9. 1894 - 1898 R.J. Judkins
10. 1898 - 1899 W.E. Means
11. 1900 - 1905 C.D. Masters
12. 1905 - 1909 J.S. Blanpied
13. 1909 - 1911 A.R. Ainsworth
14. 1911 - 1915 E.W. Slaymaker
15. 1915 - 1919 J.N. Smith
16. 1919 - 1923 Will Patton
17. 1923 - 1927 Carl E. Adams
18. 1927 - 1931 J.M. McIntire
19. 1931 - 1935 Frank Darney
20. 1935 - 1939 Lester Monroe
21. 1939 - 1943 Harry Goodman
22. 1943 - 1947 Lester Monroe
23. 1947 - 1951 Harry Goodman
24. 1951 - 1955 Walter K. Rogers
25. 1955 - 1959 Weldon K. Morford
26. 1959 - 1963 Harry C. Cowan
27. 1963 - 1967 Russell Werner
28. 1967 - 1973 Norman Walker
29. 1973 - 1990 Galen Morford
30. 1990 - 2007 Byron L. Motter
31. 2007 - 2009 AJ Wuthnow
32. 2009 - T. Walton