Mike Justice says he didn’t intend to run for sheriff.
“If my intentions were to run for sheriff, I would have retired in January 2023 to give me more time to campaign,” Justice said.
Justice said he retired from the Union County Sheriff’s Office on Nov. 30. He said at the time the sheriff’s office was down 10 deputies and two other deputies were in the hiring process for other agencies. He said he received several phone calls.
“I received phone calls from two additional deputies who were inquiring if I would run for sheriff, because they did not want to leave the UCSO,” Justice said.
He added, “It wasn’t until after the deputies called me that I decided to turn down a job offer which paid more than the Sheriff’s salary.”
A lifelong resident of Union County, Justice graduated from Marysville High School in 1988 and now lives just outside of Milford Center with Rhonda, his wife of 27 years. Justice and his wife have three children — Adam Allar, Nicole Justice and Zane Justice — each of which graduated from Fairbanks High School and a grandson. He said he values his community relationships and has given time over the years to coach youth sports.
Justice says he has more than 33 years of law enforcement experience.
“I started my career as a non-sworn Corrections Officer and retired third in charge as a Captain of the Patrol Division,” Justice said. “Since 2015, I’ve held the rank of lieutenant or captain. During this time, I’ve had the opportunity to mentor and lead the younger staff.”
He said it is “more critical in today’s society that law enforcement agencies have leaders in critical positions.”
Justice said deputies at the sheriff’s office are looking for leadership, referencing the phone calls he received from deputies. He said he asked them if the raises were enough to keep them at the sheriff’s office.
“Each of them said ‘No,’” Justice said. “Each of them stated, ‘It’s not all about the money.’”
Justice said strong leadership is the start to addressing the sheriff’s office staffing issues.
“The first step is to retain our good employees by providing them with a positive work culture,” Justice said. “The current employees need to be respected and treated like they are valued. The employees need to be able to trust their leadership.”
He said it helps that “I’ve worked or supervised nearly every position in the UCSO.”
Justice explained that “building a positive culture will also spread through the law enforcement community which will give more opportunities for recruitment.”
Justice said the ability to work well not just in his department, but in the larger law enforcement community is important.
“I have built relationships with other law enforcement agencies, fire departments and other county offices which is invaluable,” Justice said.
He added, “I have the respect of those who currently work in law enforcement in Union County which has clearly been shown by the overwhelming endorsement vote by the Local FOP lodge 171.”
In addition to focusing on staffing levels, Justice said he would help the department with its “preparedness to respond to a crisis.”
“The drug epidemic is still the number one threat to the public safety in Union County,” Justice said. “We need to focus on the enforcement, education and prevention of drug abuse and commit staff to these objectives.”
He said the staffing issues and the office’s ability to respond to the drug crisis are linked together.
“Our current situation allows only one UCSO detective to work drug investigations,” Justice said. “Even in the early 1990’s we had two detectives assigned to work drug investigations, and we are nearly 30 years later with more population.”