As he nears the end of his first month as Texas County sheriff, James Sigman is getting used to his new role and surroundings.
“It’s going fairly well,” said Sigman, who took over Jan. 1 after defeating Melissa Dunn in the November election. “There have been a few land mines, but nothing too unbearable.”
Compared to his expectations coming in, the reality of being sheriff is everything Sigman thought it would be, and then some.
“I thought I had a pretty good idea what it was going to be like,” he said, “but there are those things that the sheriff is responsible for that I wasn’t aware of.”
Sigman, who lives in Cabool with his wife, Leigh Ann, and two of their five children, is in his second stint with the TCSD. Prior to spending 14 years with the Cabool Police Department, he was a deputy in the mid-1990s under sheriff Johnny Vandiver.
Early in his first term, Sigman has hit the ground running and has already made a few changes.
“There have been a few adjustments in the jail menu,” he said. “The biggest thing we’re looking at right now is the type of food they were ordering. Instead of so much pre-cooked or heat-and-serve products, we’ll be preparing a lot more back there, and going with more affordable brands. I didn’t see the need for names brands; we’re working on saving some money back there.”
Another change that could take place as soon as next week is that many TCSD officers will be wearing new uniforms, including deputies and court staff.
“We’ve changed the colors from the brown to a gray shirt and black pants,” Sigman said. “I think it’s important to look professional, and I think some of the battle can be won simply by the impression you make when you show up at someone’s house and they open the door.”
The department’s fleet of vehicles is also likely to soon undergo a major change.
“Vehicles is a huge issue to me,” Sigman said. “Most of the ones we have are worn out, and in my opinion they were pretty much worn out when they bought them. There are some lease programs out there that I’m looking into that would provide us new vehicles with warranties. We’re spending $20,000 a year – or close to it – just on maintenance. A lot of that is like just putting band-aids on these vehicles. Hopefully we’ll get something worked out. I think there’s funding there for it.”
The updated fleet will likely include sedans as well as four-wheel-drive SUVs.
“I’d like to split it,” Sigman said. “There’s a need for the four-wheel-drive, but I did this for years and never had four-wheel-drive and I made it to every call I ever had to go to. I know it can be done, and it’s a little cheaper to run the cars.
“And in inclement weather, they can share vehicles.”
The placement of resource officers at county schools is another issue Sigman is dealing with.
“There has been some talk that Houston is most likely going to put one on,” he said. “I’ve also spoken with the Plato superintendent (Ben Yocom), and they seem to be interested, and it’s my understanding that some of the others are also interested.
“It’s going to be hard funding, and it may come down to some of these schools being able to share a resource officer. That was one of the things I suggested to Plato, with Success being so close.”
Sigman has made several changes to his department’s staff, led by the addition of a new right-hand man, chief deputy Wes Campbell. Campbell is also a former TCSD staff member, starting as a dispatcher in 2004 and working as a jailer, deputy and patrol sergeant before taking a position with the South Central Drug Task Force in 2008.
“I’ve known Wes for many years, and I thought he would be a good fit,” Sigman said. “He worked here in the past as a sergeant and I thought he did a good job. I wanted someone who I knew was going to stick up for my guys, even if it means coming to me and saying, ‘Hey, maybe we need to change something.’ You have to have that in your staff and I felt like he’d be able to do it.
“And the experience he has with the drug task force is important. We still have a huge drug problem around here and that’s not going to go away.”
Campbell, who lives in Houston with his wife, Jessica, and three kids, said he had no trouble saying “yes” when Sigman asked him to return.
“I have some supervisory skills that I’m sure he was looking for,” Campbell said, “and I’ve had tons of narcotics training. I’ve worked the road as a deputy, I’ve worked the jail as an administrator, and I’ve dispatched, so I’d say I’ve done all the things the sheriff was probably looking for.
“I haven’t bounced around – I’ve only worked with two departments – but I’ve tried to do everything I could and I’ve probably paid my dues.”
Sigman said he’s happy with the mix of people working under him.
“I feel good about the staff I have,” he said. “There have been some changes implemented that they’re going to have to adjust to – and there will be some more – but everything seems to be working well and the morale seems to be high.
“I’m hearing lot of good comments from the staff, so it seems to be going pretty well.”
One thing Sigman said he’s focused on is improving officers’ safety. He feels deputies need to be equipped with bulletproof vests and better communication systems.
“Deputies need vests, and they need extenders in their cars,” Sigman said. “Right now when they get out of their car, they have no communication with dispatch. An extender is a radio that transmits back to the base in your car, and then the car radio transmits out from there. With the area being so rural, you’re not going to talk back to the base with the little portables if you’re very far away. With the extenders, you can talk back to the car and then it goes to the main base.”
Sigman also feels the security of court staff could be improved.
“We have a metal detector here that’s not even being utilized,” he said. “That’s another one of those funding issues, but I’m hoping to work something out with that.”
Sigman and Campbell met with county commissioners last Friday regarding budget.
“I think it went well,” Sigman said. “I’m happy with the budget presented this year. Like every other office, we would like more, but I think we can work with what we got.
“But I’m also hoping to save money wherever I can, without cutting the level or quality of service we provide. I felt like a lot has been spent in the past that didn’t have to be, and there’s a lot to be saved.”
Both Texas County’s top man in law enforcement and his first officer are long-time county residents, as Sigman is a graduate of Cabool High School and Campbell graduated from Houston. The sheriff said that as he moves forward, he hopes to satisfy the voters who elected him.
“My short term goal is still about getting my feet wet,” Sigman said. “There’s a lot of learning going on right now. I just want to be visible and provide the service to the public that they’re paying for. That’s where we’re headed with this.”
We’ve changed the colors from the brown to a gray shirt and black pants. I think it’s important to look professional, and I think some of the battle can be won simply by the impression you make when you show up at someone’s house and they open the door.”