Incumbent Salem County sheriff vies for second 3-year term

SALEM - He may be running in an uncontested race this time around, but Salem County Sheriff Chuck Miller says he never stops innovating.

A well-liked and respected in both the GOP and Democrat camps, the Republican incumbent will be taking on a second three-year term as a Constitutional Officer.

Arguably the most important law enforcement official in the county, he oversees dozens of sheriff's officers out on the streets as well as operations at the Salem County Correctional Facility, handling a $15.2 million budget in 2009.

Miller, 50, of Pennsville, prides himself on redefining his office and forging new partnerships in the community, whether it be with churches, police, seniors or federal marshals.

"Our obligations are to go ahead and filter whatever partners we can find out there," Miller said. "I had a good foundation to work off of with (former Sheriff John Cooksey). John had some real basic groundwork laid."

In the past three years, he lists to his credit the implementation of at least a dozen programs that are community service-oriented.

Some of the most notable include the Sheriff's Labor Assistance Program, affording non-criminal offenders the opportunity to serve the community as an alternative to incarceration.

The car wash program allows any county department to have its cars washed and detailed at the county jail at no charge. Inmates consistently go out on work details and clean-ups, vegetables are grown at the county jail for outreach centers and seniors as inmates are getting their GEDs.

"We have probably about 12 different programs that (prisoners) can actually tap into to try to get them rehabilitated to get them back out ready to be released to society," Miller said.

The county jail has achieved 100 percent compliance with state Department of Corrections standards for the past three years. Meanwhile he has negotiated to increase the revenue generated for housing federal inmates by 32 percent, revenue that is turned over to the county.

He has also negotiated lower health care costs for inmate needs that the county jail pays for.

And he has worked to increase staff numbers at the facility, ultimately reducing overtime, fatigue and stress. The jail has incurred millions in overtime expenses over the past several years - though some of it is contractual - as some jail officers take home six-figure incomes due to amassed overtime pay, he said.

Though one of Miller's biggest goals is to reduce a recidivism rate at the jail that sees the same inmates coming back again and again. Miller said that sadly, sometimes three generations of a family are behind bars. Part of that he blames on an almost non-existent job market in the area.

He said they need to break the mentality that a prison stint can be worn as a badge of honor by getting to children early in their lives. Miller points to the work of Salem City School District Superintendent Dr. Amiot Michel as an example of how to induce change.

"Sometimes it's survival," Miller said. "But I think more importantly it is a way of life."