Deschutes Sheriff Blanton announces retirement
The year 2015 will bring a new leader for the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office, as Sheriff Larry Blanton has announced his plans to retire July 1 after more than seven years in the post and nearly 40 years in Central Oregon law enforcement.
“It’s time to do something else,” said Blanton, 58, adding that “it’s been an honor and pleasure to serve” the community.
Blanton, who was re-elected in unopposed fashion in 2012, informed staff of his retirement plans by e-mail Saturday night.
He will be leaving a year and a half before end of his term, and is urging county commissioners to appoint Capt. Shane Nelson to fill out the rest of his tenure. Nelson, commander of the department’s corrections division, would need to run for a full term in November of 2016.
That is much how Blanton assumed the sheriff’s post from predecessor Les Stiles, who retired in 2007, before the end of his term as well. Blanton was undersheriff at the time, a position that has since been eliminated by the department. County commissioners plan to discuss Blanton’s recommendation as they decide how to proceed with an appointment.
Blanton began his law enforcement career as a Bend police reserve in 1976. He eventually rose through the sheriff’s office ranks to lieutenant and lost a close 1996 race to Greg Brown, who later served time in federal prison for embezzlement. Nelson, a 44-year-old Bend native, became a full-time employee of the sheriff’s office 20 years ago.
