Sangamon County voters set to choose next sheriff

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — Voters in Sangamon County will decide their next Sheriff during the March 17th, 2026 primary.

The lone democrat announced he has dropped out of the race, meaning the winner of the Republican Primary will likely be the next sheriff. The race is between current Sheriff Paula Crouch and challenger David Timm.

Interim Sheriff Crouch was appointed 18 months ago when the former Sheriff, Jack Campbell, stepped down following the police killing of Sonya Massey.

"I knew that not everybody was like Sean Grayson. And I really wanted the opportunity to reconnect, with the public and the deputies that were were still at the sheriff's office so that they could see really who was representing the sheriff's department," Crouch told WAND News.

Sean Grayson responded to Massey's home in July of 2024 after she called 911 to report a prowler. His response — and her death — were captured on body camera video. He was convicted of second-degree murder.

The tragedy lead to calls for then-sheriff Jack Campbell to resign. He eventually announced his retirement, and Crouch was selected as interim sheriff to complete his term.

Since taking over, Crouch has worked to get deputies in the community and local schools as she works to rebuild trust.

"The kiddos love the police and they are very forgiving," Crouch explained, "But then their parents too, were very appreciative of the involvement that the deputies had, with the school, with the and it's, it's little things. Right. It's an Easter egg hunt. It's the shop with the cop program, but it's you're on the floor, the deputies are on the floor, and they're interacting with these kiddos."

She also introduced a wellness initiative, offering mental health training and support. She worked to improve in-person training for deputies as well.

"We started out by going to the ICAT training facility over in Decatur, where they had a Buffet foundation sponsored, gave us a scholarship basically to our a grant to allow all of our members to attend that training. And that's de-escalation, not only for mental health, but just really dealing with anyone in crisis," Crouch told WAND News.

Crouch also partnered with the Springfield Police Department to send deputies for training with Springfield officers.

"Also to, really build that working relationship with the city police officers because we're their back up their are back up if we're training together, then we're all on the same page together. You know, we we're following the same rules, we're following the same policies. And, and that's really a big improvement for training for us," Crouch said.

Crouch was was thrust into the role had pressing issues to manage, but now she's asking voters for a full term- to tackle things like staffing and improvements at the jail.

"I think we are currently 18, correctional officers down. So we are on the hunt for correctional officers right now. The ones that we have are working a lot of overtime. And, you know, that's a facility they can't leave for lunch. So once they come in, they are there for their entire shift, and it's it's a hard job," Crouch said.

Crouch hopes to continue improving morale, community relations and staff levels in a full term. But she must first face Republican primary challenger David Timm.

"I'm just a normal guy. That's why you see me in my t shirt and blue jeans everywhere that I go," Timm told WAND News.

Timm describes himself as the scrappy outsider, raising his own money and campaigning without the Sangamon County Republican Central Committee behind him.

But unlike Crouch- who is new to the Sheriff's Office- Timm spent all of his 25 year career wearing the deputy uniform. He retired in January of 2025, ending his career working patrol at the SMTD Transfer Station.

"The last night that I was there when I had mentally ill, homeless coming up to me with cards saying they didn't know what they were going to do without me there. I knew right then if I had impacted their lives in the last eight eight months of my career, what could I do on the grand scale? When I came home that night, I told my wife, I said, I have to do this," Timm said.

He believes decades on the force, and watching the department's response to the Massey tragedy, taught him what was- and was not- working.

"So the more I met with deputies, the more I'd been involved with the community. I saw the direction we needed to go. Then the changes come from the horrible tragedy that took place. With that, there have been things put in place that I agree with, but I think we should never just check the boxes that are there. We should always go above and beyond," Timm explained.

Timm said, if elected, he would also focus on improving morale among deputies and increasing staff levels.

"For me with the sheriff's office, when I got hired in 1999, we had 76 deputies, which was deputies, detectives and administration. We're down to 51 right now, and so we are a reactive department instead of a proactive department. We're only responding to crimes or we're not out writing tickets because there's no time to do that. The disadvantage to that is we can't get into the communities 'just because' they only see us writing tickets and arresting family members," he explained.

Timm hopes to reinstate a crime prevention program to help education communities. He also hopes to introduce more education in the county jail.

"We get with the colleges and get with the unions, if we can get them involved in that process, and they can check the boxes to get hired in a union somewhere when they get released. Now they have a job waiting for them and possibly change your mind and in regards to committing crimes ever again," Timm said about his ideas to reduce recidivism.

But the campaign has also shined a light on Timm's record with the department. He was hired as a deputy in September of 1999. His personnel record shows he received many accommodations and letters of thanks from the community. He was also written up for a few policy violations, including in 2006 when he served a 1.5 day suspension for violating department policies during a stabbing investigation.

"I think I'm a normal human being. I've learned from my mistakes, and that's important. And it's made me who I am today," Timm told WAND News.

His record also shows, he was fired in 2008 after an investigation found Timm asked a Leland Grove Police Officer to get a friend out of a DUI, as a professional courtesy. He appealed the termination and the case was taken to arbitration. Records show, the arbiter found this practice was commonplace- at the time- and that Sheriff Neil Williamson unfairly targeted Timm.

"I'm not going to lead any voter to believe I'm something other than what I've told them. That's unfair, because if they're choosing to vote for me, they need to know what I represent and who I am. I'm not perfect," Timm said.

Then in 2016, records show Timm requested a new squad car, due to issues with his hip. He said supervisors didn't accommodate his medical issue, so he filed a federal lawsuit for violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Court records show, in 2023 a jury awarded him almost $400,000 in damages and attorney's fees.

"I've always said I'm a fighter and I'm a fighter for the department. I'm a fighter for the people. And if I was willing to do that internally and faced what I faced, and now it's coming out in a different way, what would I do for the citizens of this community? And I would do the same thing for them. What's right is right and what's wrong is wrong," Timm explained.

WAND News asked Crouch about the negative ads being rung on her behalf.

"I would kind of compare it to the the screaming about Sean Grayson's background and not a thorough background. As sheriff, you have to get re-certified. So when you retire, as he did and as I did before coming to sheriff, then you have to apply to the Illinois State Training Board to have your to get a waiver to get your certification back activated. That's a requirement now, you as sheriff, you have to be a sworn law enforcement officer. You can't just be an appointed person that doesn't have their police certificate. So he will have to do that. But there's a background check that we do on deputies. You you wanted on Sean Grayson a better background check. The stuff that's in our ads is from his personnel file. It's his background. So I think as a person voting on your sheriff, you have a right to know. There career background, right? It's just career stuff. It's not personal attacks. It's just our professional and and our job," Crouch explained.

In the democratic primary, Marc Bell will be listed on the ballot as a sheriff candidate. However, he announced on Facebook that he is dropping out of the race.