SAVANNAH, Mo. — Andrew County voters have two men with similar ideas seeking their votes this November in the race for sheriff. The two candidates are seeking the job held by retiring Sheriff Gary Howard. Both men currently work as Andrew County deputy sheriffs.

The Democratic candidate is veteran road patrol officer Robert Elam, 43, who has worked in law enforcement for 20 years. In addition to working in the Sheriff’s Department, Mr. Elam has been a Savannah Police Department officer and a member of the public safety staff at Missouri Western State University.

The Republican candidate is chief deputy Capt. Bryan Atkins, 48, who has worked in law enforcement for 27 years. His experience in the past few years includes handling administrative duties and paperwork.

Both men want to eliminate having certified officers as dispatchers. With Andrew County’s growing population, there is a need for having two road patrol officers on duty at all times, they say. To accomplish the change will require use of the three deputies currently working dispatch and additional money for hiring more deputies.

Mr. Elam said the department would need four new deputies and one additional full-time communicator.

Both men also want to increase officer training.

People need to know and be prepared to work several different jobs so that the department isn’t dependent on one individual for a particular function, Mr. Atkins said.

With a jail building that’s almost 100 years old, both candidates want to find ways to improve the jail.

The county is spending a lot of money to house prisoners in other jails. Some changes in Andrew County’s jail might reduce costs while people study the issue of what the county should do in the long run, Mr. Elam said.

A re-evaluation of the space within the jail could be a temporary solution, Mr. Atkins said.

But there are differences.

Mr. Elam would like to recreate a reserve unit for the county so that in emergencies and during events full-time officers won’t be swamped with administrative duties. He’d also like to involve citizens in a community policing program.

“Citizens need a voice,” Mr. Elam said. “And we need to listen.”

Mr. Atkins says his No. 1 priority is to crank up the department’s work on underage drinking and drug use.

“Instead of being reactive all the time I want officers to be proactive with kids before there is a problem,” Mr. Atkins said. One way he thinks this can be accomplished is by stepping up the involvement in the Drug Abuse Resistance Education, also called the DARE, program.

“This means the department also would be aggressive in looking for people that supply drugs to kids,” Mr. Atkins said.

Voters will cast their ballots on Nov. 4.

Marshall White can be reached

at marshall@npgco.com.