WALLACE — The Shoshone County Democratic Central Committee has announced three candidates for the vacant Shoshone County sheriff position, triggering a 15-day decision window for county commissioners. 

The announcement was made via email on Saturday afternoon. 

The candidates are Travis Skinner, Chris Rice and Shawn Wehr. County commissioners have 15 days to appoint one of the three. If no decision is made within that time, the appointment authority defaults back to the Shoshone County Democratic Central Committee. 

This marks the second time the SCDCC has submitted a list of sheriff candidates to the commissioners in the past five months, following the resignation of Holly Lindsey in Oct. 2025 and the more recent resignation of William Eddy last month. 

The list reflects earlier comments made by SCDCC Chairperson Diannah Fields-Brown, who previously told commissioners she was done playing party politics with the office and believed the position of sheriff should be nonpartisan. 

“It is imperative to the well-being of our community that we move beyond partisan politics in order to focus on the needs and challenges faced by the sheriff's department,” Fields-Brown said. “Much harm has been done by recent decisions, and we are eager to begin the recovery process.” 

Rice was one of three candidates selected by the SCDCC in November and was widely viewed as having the strongest interview before commissioners ultimately selected Eddy. When questioned by the SCDCC in November, Rice said he was a registered independent. He has since filed his candidacy to run for the position on the Republican ticket. 

Wehr, who has an extensive law enforcement background, currently serves as the security officer at the Shoshone County Courthouse. He recently filed his candidacy for sheriff as a Republican. 

Skinner, the current interim sheriff, was appointed undersheriff in December by Eddy. He spent decades working in law enforcement in the Salt Lake City area of Utah. It is not known whether Skinner would seek election if appointed. 

The News-Press will request background information on all three candidates and plans to publish profiles in an upcoming edition.