Hain Vs. Bodin In Kane County Sheriff Race: IL General Election 2022

KANE COUNTY, IL — Two candidates are vying for the seat of Kane County sheriff in Tuesday's General Election.

Republican Jeffrey Bodin is looking to unseat Democratic incumbent Ron Hain, who was elected to the position in 2018 after spending 28 years working in law enforcement. The candidates are both employed at the Kane County Sheriff's Office, where Bodin has served as a deputy since April 2007.

In Bodin's time as a deputy, he has "worked to engage and better serve the community, staff and incarcerated individuals," his campaign website reads. If elected, he said he is committed to "leading with openness, collaboration, transparency and will strengthen community partnerships."

A resident of Sugar Grove, Bodin plans to implement a #KeepOurKaneKidsSafe initiative that will put trained auxiliary deputies and trained retired police officers in schools throughout Kane County, according to his campaign website. He also plans to reorganize public safety staff to put more patrol deputies on the street — 75 percent of the patrol division versus the current 60 percent — while cutting down a "massive" overtime budget.

For five consecutive years, from 2016 to 2020, Bodin held the title for most driving under the influence arrests within the Kane County Sheriff's Office, according to his website.

Following Hain's election in 2018, the Elburn resident took a "zero-tolerance approach to street crime while providing positive life paths for incarcerated Kane County residents in an effort to drive down recidivism and crime rates," he wrote in a recent Patch candidate survey.

"We have accomplished everything we promised ... it is time to keep the mission going to keep driving down recidivism, crime, and saving our taxpayers millions of dollars through innovative programs," Hain said in the survey.

Ahead of the election, Patch distributed questionnaires to candidates running in contested races. Bodin did not respond.

Moving forward, Hain listed seven key items he plans on focusing on if he is reelected, according to his campaign website. Here's a look at them:

• Budget: Maintain fiscally-responsible public safety operation that has saved our citizens millions of dollars over the last three years.
• Public health: Continue reduction of Opioid Use Disorder deaths. Finalize addiction treatment center hosted by the Sheriff's Office.
• Crime: Continue to drive down crime rates by connecting citizens to essential resources.
• Public safety: Keeping the community safer through cutting-edge training for our police and revolutionized re-entry pathways for people returning from incarceration. Expand electronic home monitoring program Sheriff Hain created to increase public safety and adapt to the upcoming cashless bail system. Develop countywide gun safety initiatives.

"I am proud of what we have accomplished together during my first term as Kane County Sheriff," Hain's website reads. "When reelected, I look forward to working with Kane County residents and partners to continue to reduce crime, decrease recidivism, fight addiction and continue to make Kane County Safer for all."