A new sheriff will soon be in town in Imperial County

Two candidates campaign for sheriff of Imperial County - News 11's Wiley Jawhary reports

EL CENTRO, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) - The Imperial County Sheriff's Department (ICSO) will soon have a new sheriff taking care of the law.

There are only two candidates for the elected position, Fred Miramontes who is the current undersheriff and Hilton Smith who was a patrol officer with the sheriff's department.

Both candidates have the intention of serving their communities but have different ways in mind of doing so.

Miramontes says his goal is to keep criminals off the streets.

"As the undersheriff, we already approached the presiding judge to see if we can amend the bail schedule because surrounding counties have amended their bail schedule and are allowing individuals to be booked for misdemeanors and more felonies," Miramontes expressed.

Smith on the other hand also agrees criminals should be kept off the streets but wants to see second chances given when possible.

"In order to reduce crime, you must have a process already established for a rehabilitation process, that way you can rehabilitate individuals who are committing low-level crimes," Smith said.

News 11's Wiley Jawhary will have more on the campaign on the Evening Edition at 6 p.m.