Anne Arundel County Sheriff

What’s the job: Duties differ by jurisdiction. In some counties, the sheriff is the chief law enforcement officer. In other jurisdictions, the sheriff is primarily responsible for courtroom security and enforcing court orders, such as evictions. Elected to a four-year term.

Democratic

Name: Everett Sesker

Candidate did not respond to The Banner’s voter guide questionnaire.

Republican

Name: Jim Fredericks

Age: 59

Personal: I am a lifelong Anne Arundel County resident. In my early years I lived in Brooklyn Park and attended Belle Grove Elementary School. My family moved to Severn where I attended Old Mill middle and high schools. I met my wife in high school and we have been married for 38 years. I lived in Pasadena prior to getting married and after our wedding we settled in Millersville. We were members of Pasadena United Methodist Church until moving to Tracys Landing, where we are now members of Friendship UMC. We have 3 adult child who all graduated from Southern High School and Anne Arundel Community College. We have 5 wonderful grandsons between the ages of 1 and 7. I have served as a board member of my church, and on several boards throughout my law enforcement career. I coached cross-country running at Southern High School and served on the Business-Community Advisory Board for 2 years.

Education: Associate of Applied Science - Law Enforcement & Criminal Justice - Anne Arundel Community College

Bachelor of Arts - Labor Studies - National Labor College

Experience: 2023 to Present - I work for a private security company as a Contract Manager. In my position, I work in partnership with the US Marshals Service to provide private security for the federal court system in Washington, DC

2018 to 2022 - I was the elected Sheriff for Anne Arundel County. During that time I fully modernized the sheriff’s office by securing a new 14,000 Square foot facility for field operations, advanced new technologies across the agency, started a first-in-Maryland Safe Surrender program to make warrant service safer for deputies, greatly improved security at the county circuit court, reduced a lingering backlog of open warrants, and created more new deputy positions than sheriffs in the previous 20 years. 1992 to 2018 - I served in the Anne Arundel County police department and retired as a lieutenant upon my election as Sheriff. I served in several critical supervisory and command roles including Robbery, Homicide, Public Relations, Technology, Homeland Security & Intelligence, Gang Investigations, Traffic Safety & Investigations, and Director of Emergency Management. 1984 to 1992 - National Security Agency, working in information security.

Questionnaire

Q: What is your top priority for improving public safety, and what specific steps would you take in your first year in office to achieve it?

Q: How would you approach the relationship between the Sheriff’s Office and the communities it serves, particularly residents who have historically had strained relationships with law enforcement?

Q: Maryland sheriffs have faced questions about the extent to which their offices should assist in federal immigration enforcement. How would you handle requests from federal agencies to cooperate on immigration matters?

Q: Why are you the best candidate for sheriff?

Name: James H. McNeill

Candidate did not respond to The Banner’s voter guide questionnaire.