Messier Again Challenges Incumbent Sheriff Hill

Home: Gainesville; he's lived in Prince William County for 45 years

Age: 54

Marital Status: Married to Denise Messier for 31 years

Family: Two adult children and one grandson

Current Employer: Messier is a sergeant at the Fairfax County Police Department

Past Employer: Served in several capacities, including chief deputy, at the Prince William County Sheriff's Office for 32 years.

Religion: Catholic, he is a member of the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Gainesville and is a former member of All Saints Catholic Church in Manassas.

Education: Recently earned a degree in criminal justice from Bluefield College via its distance learning program. Earned the college's prestigious leadership award at graduation.

Website: Messier For Sheriff

A Fairfax County Police Sergeant and former sheriff’s deputy has thrown his figurative hat into the ring and is vying for the title of Prince William County Sheriff.

Mike Messier, a 54-year-old Gainesville resident, is running against the incumbent, twice-elected Sheriff Glendell Hill for the position.

The Sheriff’s Office also serves the residents of Manassas Park and Manassas by enforcing the civil process in all three jurisdictions and conducting security at the judicial center in Manassas.

Messier is running this race as an Independent and not as a Republican, as he did four years ago during an unsuccessful run against Hill in the primary election. Hill also is a Republican. The reason he’s running as an Independent and the reason he, perhaps, isn't the current Sheriff of Prince William County are seemingly intertwined.

“Last time I ran as a Republican in the primary … I had a lot of people supporting me … they said they were going to stay quiet and let me and Glendell work it out. A month before the election, they (current incumbents) all came out and endorsed him; I should have expected it,”  Messier said. “This time I’m an Independent and (this time) they endorsed him right off the bat.”

Messier said he believes he’s still not going to get endorsements from many local Republicans, even though he is the candidate the represents Republican values.

He is pro-life and believes that human life begins at conception, Messier said of himself. If elected, he will make sure no money from the sheriff’s office budget is used for abortions by removing abortion coverage from the office’s health care plan, he said. 

Hill supports abortion rights according to a story published by the Gainesville Times in March, Messier said.

Hill isn’t about fiscal responsibility, Messier said.

If elected, Messier wants to restore fiscal responsibility to the Sheriff’s Office.  He’ll order an audit of the Sheriff’s Office budgetary funds and make the results public so that the people of Prince William County will know where their tax dollars have been spent for the past eight years.

Messier said he wants to stop the practice of giving high-priced vehicles to the Sheriff's Office command staff and instead use the savings to put more deputies on the streets and in the courtrooms.

Hill has a $9 million budget for the sheriff’s office and about 92 deputies, Messier said.

That’s too many deputies, said Messier, who considers himself a conservative Republican.

When he was chief deputy sheriff under former Prince William County Sheriff E. Lee Stoffregen III, they did the job with far less officers.

“We could have made it with 50 people, but you need at least 60; he’s got 92,” Messier said. “He went from 69 to 92 people in eight years.”

“This year the Prince William County Police Department wanted eight more people and they were denied. Glendell (Hill) asked for two and he got it. I’m like, ‘How does he do it?’ For eight years, Glendell has gotten everything and anything he’s wanted,” said Messier. 

When asked how he thinks the news of a decrease in positions at the office will be received by current deputies, Messier said he definitely doesn’t want to walk in on the first day and, “trim 30 people.”

 “As people retire, I just won’t fill the positions,” he said. As sheriff, Messier said he wants to do more things for children and older residents, such as having fraud awareness programs.

Stoffregen, who was defeated by Hill eight years ago, was a person for kids and senior citizens, Messier said.

“Glendell got rid of all that …” Messier said.

A public debate between he and Hill could happen this year, Messier said. They debated four years ago, he added.

Both will appear on the ballot on Nov. 8.