JEFF DAVIS COUNTY — Two experienced law enforcement officers will face off in a May 28 sheriff’s race runoff for the Republican Primary in Jeff Davis County. One contender, C.W. Stephens, is embracing a controversial philosophy of the “constitutional sheriff movement,” which is based in the belief that sheriffs are the ultimate authority in constitutional matters and can override state and federal directives and law.
Stephens, a current deputy for the county, came in second in the March 5 Primary behind Victor Lopez, a former Jeff Davis County deputy and current Marfa Police Department officer who came out on top 245-195. Since neither achieved more than 50% of the vote, they head to the runoff, but with no Democratic contender in November, the winner will assume the post in January. Current Sheriff Bill Kitts is retiring and did not seek reelection.
“The sheriff should be the primary conservator of the peace,” Stephens said. “And I also feel that where they can, [the sheriff should] try to protect the rights of the citizens in their jurisdiction. Our constitution just seems to go out the window pretty much these days.”
Stephens defended his belief in constitutional sheriffs by saying he doesn’t agree with recent criticism of the movement with reports on many of these sheriffs refusing to acknowledge federal laws or even judges’ rulings — with examples of citizens left vulnerable to civil rights violations or corrupt local officials. He sees the movement as just the opposite and wants to protect “the rights of citizens” and make sure that some other agency “doesn’t come in here and run roughshod over them.”
Lopez, who served as a Hudspeth County Sheriff deputy for several years and four years in Jeff Davis County, now has the night shift on patrol in Marfa. When he decided to run for sheriff, he thought it would be best to take a position in Marfa during the campaign, especially since Deputy Stephens was running alongside him. “I just thought it’d be better for me to run my campaign from the outside looking in, instead of from the inside looking out,” Lopez said.
Lopez said his eight kids — ranging in age from eight to 28 — inspired him to get into law enforcement. He said a lot of the programs he’s championed in the past in Hudspeth County focus on getting area kids and families engaged with law enforcement — such as Red Ribbon Week, which encourages youth to live a healthy, drug-free life — are missing in Jeff Davis County. “I’ve always wanted to protect my kids, and take care of other kids, take care of all their families, take care of them just the way that law enforcement takes care of my family while I’m gone,” Lopez said.
Lopez said he wants to be a sheriff who shows up at events and helps sponsor them so that the department is more in step with the community. “They don’t do any of that at the schools now,” Lopez said, “The sheriff’s department is not involved.” He said he enjoys moments like his involvement with the Thin Blue Line Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club that raises money for scholarships, which he helped hand out in Marfa ISD last spring.
“When I was in Hudspeth County, one of the biggest things that I did was being a school resource officer,” Lopez said. “So I took care of all the say-no-to-drugs programs and stuff like that.”
Lopez said in addition to being the school resource officer, who was responsible for active shooter drills, he also worked narcotic investigations and helped administratively in Hudspeth County, making him a well-rounded, experienced officer.
Stephens said he also has extensive experience after starting in law enforcement in Matagorda and Brazoria counties, serving on special investigative units and a SWAT team, before falling in love with Jeff Davis County and joining the sheriff’s department there.
“I didn’t have any political aspirations at all,” he said of when he arrived. “I took a pay cut and ended up going from a 40-hour-a-week job to 60 plus. I noticed some things that I didn’t think were the best way to run a sheriff’s office and was hoping to make some changes.”
“One thing is, I want to have an open-door policy,” Stephens said. “Part of that is a lack-of-personnel problem, but there seems to be a barrier between the citizens and the sheriff’s office, and I want to try to fix that and get the community more involved.” He added that it wasn’t just a metaphor for openness. “I’ve never actually seen a sheriff’s office before where the front door was always locked,” like it is in Fort Davis, he said.
Those goals will be more difficult if the deputies are overworked, he said. “I really believe we need a lot more deputies than what we have here. There’s a sheriff, a chief deputy, and two street deputies right now. I’m one of them. And we’re bigger than the state of Delaware.” Stephens acknowledged that adding to the force would be tough for a county continually fighting budget deficits, but that he is ready to make the effort.
Lopez agreed more deputies are needed to avoid burnout, adding deputies should not act as purely patrol officers. It’s hard to engage with the community when all you’re doing is responding to calls, he said.
Lopez downplayed the importance of Stephens’ stance on constitutional sheriffs, but he noted how it did differentiate him from his opponent. “You know, I’ll be honest with you. I’m not big on politics and stuff like that. The way I look at it is if you’re a good sheriff, if you’re a good person and you’re willing to do something good for the community, there’s really no need to put labels on yourself.” But Lopez also mentioned a community forum he attended where Stephens didn’t give a good explanation of why he wanted the label.
The Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA) is the primary organization serving the movement, and Texas has a large contingent of sheriffs — some 50 as of last year, according to Texas Tribune reporting — that had participated in the association’s training. Often association members are tied to election-denier groups, Second Amendment abolitionists refusing to follow any gun laws that may develop, anti-migrant organizations and, on the border, militia groups. Many in the group espouse the idea of nullification or interposition, legal theories that previously centered on states having the right to nullify federal law, with a history of its use as far back as the Civil War and through the decades of desegregation and the Civil Rights Movement. That theory spread to a more local level with ideas of “constitutional counties,” with the sheriffs being the supreme elected officials at that level.
With some in the CSPOA forming ties with white nationalists and those supporting former President Donald Trump’s actions to try and stop President Joe Biden from assuming office, criticism has also painted the organization as a threat to democracy.
Stephens said there will be “bad apples” in any organization, and his intent is only to preserve rights, not violate them. “I just don’t have any intention of violating the civil rights of citizens,” he said.
Both Lopez and Stephens pledged to be more open with the media, something they acknowledge local sheriffs aren’t often keen to do. Stephens said he wants to send reports out on Facebook as the Presidio and Brewster county sheriffs do, with a goal of getting the community more involved with events his office would hold. Stephens said news reports can add to public safety and be a conversation starter. “I’d like to work with the media and with the citizens and hear their concerns,” he said.
“A sheriff being able to talk to the media is very important to me,” Lopez said. “Especially if it has to do with the community.” He also plans to use social media in the effort and believes that criminal activity should be more publicized. “I would like to know if there’s a person that’s taking stuff from the neighborhood. And if I see him out there walking around, I would like to know who it is and if he’s walking around my neck of the woods, and maybe he’s not supposed to be there,” Lopez said.