The Deschutes County Sheriff's Office, seen here in 2017. 

Five applicants for the interim Deschutes County sheriff position squared off in a forum Monday evening, focusing on how they would bring accountability and trust back to the office following Sheriff Kent van der Kamp’s tumultuous seven-month term.

Van der Kamp resigned from the elected office of sheriff effective July 31 following a string of dishonesty allegations, including that he failed to disclose his termination from another law enforcement agency, supplied false documents to Oregon State Police and lied while under oath in Deschutes County Circuit Court.

The position will be filled by appointment through the Deschutes County Commission. Vying for the role are  Undersheriff Aaron Wells, Detective and Special Services Commander Ty Rupert, Detective Lt. James McLaughlin, former Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Deron McMaster and Central Oregon Community College Director of Campus Safety and Emergency Management Cory Darling.

The debate was held by the Deschutes County Sheriff Employee’s Association, which plans to supply the County Commission with the results of a ranked-choice vote of employees at one of the commission’s upcoming meetings. While the commission has said the union’s endorsement won’t decide the appointment, Commissioner Phil Chang says the opinion of employees inside the agency will be deeply considered.

Cory Darling

As a candidate whose career was largely spent at the Sunriver and Bend Police Departments, Darling focused on what he would bring to the sheriff’s office as someone coming from outside the agency.

“I’m just a citizen. I’m on the outside looking in. I see what’s going on and it’s disturbing because I’ve worked with the people from Deschutes County and they are top notch people that do the work for the right reasons. The noise at the top has got to stop,” Darling said. “It’s the people that do the work that mean the most right now. What you need is somebody at the top that is going to do away with the drama, do away with the noise, so the good men and women of the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office can do their job.”

Darling emphasized his past experience as chief of police for the Sunriver Police Department and his tendency to lean conservative when it comes to spending.

“I don’t know what the future is going to hold. I know we do have to be fiscally responsible. If you look at my budgeting history, pretty conservative. I don’t like to go over budget, and I like to save as much money as I possibly can while providing the resources that the people need to do the job,” Darling said.

James McLaughlin

During the debate, McLaughlin announced his intention to run in the 2026 special election for sheriff regardless of whether the Deschutes County Commission decides to appoint him as interim sheriff.

“I already made that determination before I (decided) to throw my hat in the ring as interim sheriff,” McLaughlin said. “I have a 1,000-day vision, not a 100-day vision. I am tired of people running and sprinting to do something to look good in the moment because there is an election coming,” McLaughlin said. “I want longevity. I want to make a generational change. So regardless of what it looks like on paper, if there’s a wild success that I can hang my hat on … it’s not going to change my resolve in running for the office of sheriff in 2026. Absolutely not.”

McLaughlin emphasized his experience working on several high-profile wins for the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office, including the discovery of a potential mass shooter whose alleged target was a climbing festival at Smith Rock State Park. During his closing statement, he reviewed lessons he has learned from each of the sheriffs he has served under, including van der Kamp.

“Kent van der Kamp showed me great innovation and what inclusion is like inside an office when you can take opinions from other people. It was a very short tenure, but it was a tenure. I want to honor all of (the past sheriffs) for the impact that they did make in a positive manner,” McLaughlin said. “I want to try and facilitate honor everywhere I go. I believe that how you start something is inevitably how you will finish it.”

Deron McMaster

Similar to McLaughlin, McMaster expressed a desire to leave the drama coming out of the sheriff’s office at the door. While he didn’t want to relive old scandals — McMaster was recently awarded a settlement from the county after accusing former Sheriff Shane Nelson of retaliation — he did say that one of the greatest mistakes of his career was supporting Nelson both politically and financially during his 2016 campaign.

“On day one, I want to start talking with the individuals within the agency. We need to start building back the trust and with trust will come unity,” McMaster said. “I want people to trust that there is no retribution for somebody coming up and saying, ‘McMaster, you did a good job. But you know what? You could have done way better.”

McMaster said though he hasn’t worked with the sheriff’s office in four years, his 28 years of experience with the agency before that gives him a good idea of the agency’s financial situation. Of all the candidates, he spoke the most about reassessing the internal command structure to save money.

“I pride myself on trying to listen to the needs of each individual and trying to do as much as I can within my abilities — obviously taking budgetary concerns (into consideration) —  to fulfill their needs, whether it’s training (or) equipment … Those are the kinds of things that will make each and every deputy in this agency a better person, a better employee, and in turn, they will serve our community better.”

Ty Rupert

In answering each of the forum questions, Rupert emphasized his understated leadership style. While he said he would consider running during the special election in 2026, he would only do so if he had the enthusiastic support of his peers in the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office and his constituents.

“Can you imagine trying to be successful with a team of people that don’t believe in you? I wouldn’t do that,” Rupert said. “I was raised to be a handshake man where your word was better than a signature on a contract, and the Marine Corps instilled even more of that in me. Without trust, we have nothing … I put other people before me because that’s called servant leadership.”

Rupert said he believes the budget presented to the county commission for 2026 — which he was a part of creating — was balanced, but is conscious that there is a need to expand staffing at the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office and the need for large capital improvements to the jail.

“I don’t take the money that the citizens give us for granted,” Rupert said. “I think there’s more room in there to maybe sharpen the pencil a little bit more, but understand our staffing is no different today on the patrol than it was when I started in 2005. It’s almost the same. That has to change … As sheriff it would be my responsibility to make sure that our people are not being burned out, because they’re our largest asset.”

Aaron Wells

Appointed by van der Kamp, Wells has only been with the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office for seven months, having previously worked at Redmond Police Department. During the forum, he worked to distance himself from the current sheriff and emphasize his trustworthiness.

“I’ve learned a lot about what I call extreme ownership, about owning your mistakes and moving forward,” Wells said. “The reality is our leader made some mistakes, and that’s affected us all. I think we have to own that to the public, have to apologize for it … on the other side, he’s just one person. I’ve spent a lot of time at the agency. I’ve done the one-on-ones. What I realized is that the sheriff in no way, shape or form represents the agency that I work for.”

If the Deschutes County Commission is unable to appoint an interim sheriff by the time van der Kamp officially leaves office on July 31, Wells will take command of the agency. While he didn’t outline any specific changes he would make to the agency, he said that the first goal for interim sheriff should be stabilizing the internal situation.

“I’ve heard from a few people just how difficult it is to be in an environment where scandal is repeated. So I think success to me would be that we are through that phase, that we aren’t continuing to have issues with our own staff that make headlines,” Wells said. “In terms of if I would run for sheriff, I think I’m probably more concerned right now with how we handle our current situation. All my focus is surviving that.”

Next steps

The next step for each of the candidates is to finalize their applications with the Deschutes County Commission. The deadline for that, as well as a written statement that residents can review before the commission takes a vote, is Friday.

While the commission is not required to make an appointment by July 31, the commissioners have said they want to make the appointment as quickly as practicable.