In what he hopes will be his third and likely last term, Lincoln County Sheriff Darren Short said he wants to see through some efforts he’s started since taking over the office nearly eight years ago.

Short has opposition in the June 2, 2026, primary election, something he didn’t have in 2018 or 2022.

Libby Police Chief Cody Ercanbrack and citizen Marty Dunbar are also running in the primary on the Republican ticket.

Troy Police officer Ian Smith filed as an Independent and will be on the ballot in the November general election.

Short said furthering the efforts of building a new jail and mountaintop repeaters in the county are two of his major priorities as he seeks re-election to a third term as one of the county’s top law enforcers.

“I want to see those through,” Short said in a recent interview with The Western News. “I’d also like the commissioners to put another effort into changing Initiative 105, which limits the amount of money the county gets from property taxes while the state gets the bulk of the funds.”

Initiative 105, approved by 54% of Montana voters in 1986, froze certain property taxes at 1986 levels. It was also meant to establish alternative revenue sources to make up for the freeze. They can only be increased at one-half the rate of inflation for the three prior years.

Short also touted his time as sheriff and what’s he learned in that time.

“I’ve learned so much in 7 1/2 years, the interworkings of the office,” Short said. “It’s tough to gain that experience withut being there. I also hope to continue to lead the agency in a good direction.”

Short and county officials have been discussing the jail for a few years. The county is working with a company to develop a plan for a new jail.

Short’s concerns with the current facility are numerous, including a lack of space, safety concerns for both staff and inmates and other issues.

The county is currently facing a wrongful death lawsuit by the family of a man who hung himself in the jail in 2023 and later died at a Spokane hospital.

Short said he doesn’t believe a new jail will be built in the next four years, but he does hope to further the effort.

“A levy won’t work,” Short said. “We need to go the bond route like what Flathead County did. We also need to look at other ways to cover the cost, whether it’s at the state or federal level.”

Flathead County voters passed a $105 million bond in November 2025 for a new detention facility.

As for the repeaters, they are the equipment that allows communication between law officers, ambulance, fire, search and rescue, Forest Service and highway patrol.

“The Yaak and McCormick areas are in need of updates,” Short said. “We have 13 sites across the county and a lot of that equipment is 30 

years old, so that’s one of the priorities.”

When asked about the defunct Crisis Response Team (CRT), which allowed mental health professionals to handle some calls as opposed to officers, Short said he’d love to see it return.

“It was a great tool for us,” Short said. “It took a load off our officers and deputies. But it did rely on volunteers to man it, many of which had their own professional practices.”

The county had a CRT before it stopped operating at the end of 2024.

County commissioners didn’t approve a grant that would have funded the team. At the time, Commissioner Jim Hammons said he hoped Cabinet Peaks Medical Center would take it over as well as a proposed walk-in center, which also got a grant.

While commissioners ultimately approved the grant for the walk-in center and staff, the plan for the hospital to take over the CRT never materialized.

Hammons said the CRT was doing a good job, but claimed the county didn’t have the staff to run it.

Short said training still occurs annually in the county for officers and dispatchers.

“The state has a Crisis Intervention Team that travels to law enforcement agencies and does a week-long training session,” Short said. “We just had one where three detention guards and one dispatcher took it.”

Absentee ballots are to be mailed out Friday, May 8. The election will be held Tuesday, June 2.