Election 2026: Sheriff Candidate Captain Joe Keltner

Although election season still feels a ways away, the 2026 Indiana primaries will be here before you know it. The primary elections are scheduled for May 5, and the Washington County Times has been busy interviewing the candidates who hope to receive your vote next spring. Leading up to the primaries, we will be releasing candidate interviews in order to keep you well informed in the hope that May feels less like a guessing game and more like an educated decision at the ballot box.

Kicking things off with the office of Washington County Sheriff, our first candidate interview features Washington County Sheriff's Department Captain Joe Keltner.

Publisher's Note: The Washington County Times does not endorse political candidates. Our mission is to provide balanced and informative coverage of local politics so our readers can make their own informed decisions at the ballot box. We aim to give all candidates a fair opportunity to share their views and connect with the community. This Q&A is part of that commitment to open, unbiased political reporting.

Captain Joe Keltner

1. Can you speak on your background in law enforcement?

“I was hired by the Washington County Sheriff’s Department in 2011 full-time,” said Keltner. “From there, I went on to the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy and graduated in 2012 with Honors. I then came back to work here in Washington County and was hired under Claude Combs. Sheriff Combs promoted me to captain, and Sheriffs Roger Newlon and Brent Miller both retained me as their captains. I am also a certified instructor through the Law Enforcement Training Board and hold several instructor certifications such as OC (pepper spray) instructor and active shooter instructor for both law enforcement and civilians. I am a certified instructor through Strategos for law enforcement, and I’m a certified A.L.I.C.E. (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) instructor which is basically a 'run, hide, fight' active shooter program.

“I am also the administrator for ‘Project Lifesaver,’” he continued. “What that is, is people can get in contact with us to help children and/or elderly people. Generally, it’s children that suffer from autism or have any kind of childhood disorder that might make them flee or wander. We can put a bracelet on them that allows us to track them if they were to take off running and flee. With elderly individuals, it’s normally Alzheimer's and dementia. They tend to take off and wander. Once again, we can track them with that bracelet and reunite them with the family faster. I am also one of the administrators for the new system we have called CodeRED.

“I started as a reserve officer. That’s how I got my foot in the door at the sheriff’s department,” he said. “I started as a reserved officer when I was 20. For the first six months of my law enforcement career, I couldn’t even carry a gun. I was old enough. But once I turned 21, I started doing everything that the reserves do and began to get my feet wet and get my background started. In 2011, I was offered a full-time job, and I’ve never looked back. I’ve been captain now for 12 years.”

2. What inspired you to run for Sheriff of Washington County?

“Being sheriff is a position of leadership, but it’s also a position of being a servant to the people,” said Keltner. “You are a servant leader for your community. Ultimately, you work for the people. I love this community. This community has been wonderful to me. They have treated me so well, and me being sheriff would be the ultimate give-back to my community. I’ve always loved Salem and Washington County. How many other places can you go to that you know so many people on a first-name basis? People know who each other’s families are, they know where each other went to school, and they know their background. How many places can you go where a person in the community gets sick or some kind of tragedy takes place, and the community will just rally around that person or family? And no matter what it is, they show up. Whether it’s monetary assistance, mowing their lawn, making sure they have food to eat and that their house is taken care of. How many communities can say they do that? Washington County can. I’ve seen it firsthand countless times.”

3. What do you believe are the most important leadership qualities in a Sheriff, and how have you demonstrated those in your career?

“Boots on the ground,” he said. “If I am lucky enough to be elected, I plan on being a working sheriff. We’re a small department, and I believe that’s very important. As a working sheriff, I would never ask any of my people to go and do something that I wouldn’t do myself. I’m a big ‘lead by example’ guy. I would never ask you to do something that I wouldn’t do myself. Whether that’s going above and beyond and helping with snow removal in the winter or mowing grass in the summer time around there, because I’ve done both. A lot of captains at other sheriff’s departments can’t say that. I feel I am the fortunate one because, as the captain, I still take details on the road. I do a lot of administrative things, but I’m also still out there with the guys taking calls. A lot of captains don’t do that stuff. Once you reach that rank of captain, it becomes a desk job for most people. They don’t get out and see the people. I feel fortunate that I still get to do that, and I still want to do that even if elected sheriff. I want to be out there taking calls and working the road if somebody needs to be off for whatever reason. I plan on being a working sheriff all the way through.”

4. If elected, what would be your top priorities as Sheriff?

“I think the two things we really need to focus on in this community are the drug situation – because we, like the rest of small-town America, face drug issues whether that’s prescription pill abuse or the illicit drugs that we see coming into our county – and the kids. The kids are the future of this community. They are tomorrow’s future. They truly are. It’s so true and so important,” remarked Keltner. “A lot of times, we’re trying to focus on the kids in the middle school age range, but I feel like at that point we’re behind. We need to be more involved with these kids when they’re in elementary school. That’s when they’re really learning and growing and trying to find out who they’re going to be. I believe we need to be a positive influence and a role model in that situation.”

“Going back to the drug situation, we have installed roadside cameras, you’ve probably seen them while coming in and out of the county,” he continued. “We have utilized those quite a bit, and I would like us to continue to utilize those because these drugs are coming into our county every single day. To think otherwise would be wrong. We need to further combat that. Part of that also goes into the jail side of things. Because when you’re sheriff, you also have the jail. We have programs that come into the jail, but I feel like we could probably use some more. If we can truly help people and not give them a hand out but a hand up and help them better themselves, maybe we will see a bigger difference in our community as far as the drugs, which ties into the theft, which ties into other various crimes that we deal with.”

5. How do you plan to strengthen relationships between law enforcement and the communities you serve?

“Community policing is a huge benefit not only to the public, but to us as well,” Keltner said. “On nights where we have events like Friday Night on the Square, we need to be there. We need to be out outreaching, and we need to have a booth. Let people see who we are. We have a lot of new faces at the Washington County Sheriff's Department, and a lot of the community has no idea who they are. We have a lot of new officers that just joined the force, and some of them aren’t from around here. They’re from out of our community but have come here to work. And so, I feel like we need to be more among the people at times like that when there is a community gathering. Not that we aren’t now – we provide security for multiple avenues in this community during events whether that’s the fair or 4th of July or other festivals – but I feel like we need to really get out and meet with people to let them know who we are.”

6. What steps will you take to ensure that deputies are held to high professional and ethical standards?

“I believe that training can lead to that. I am a huge proponent for training because I am also the training coordinator at the department as well,” he stated. “I believe we need to do more training, and a lot of that falls into the lack of money to do it. Sending people to be trained is certainly not cheap. There are different types of training out there that hone your skills as a law enforcement officer, but also hone your skills as just being a decent human being. Doing what’s right. No matter who is watching or where we’re at, we need to do what’s right. There is a lot of training out there that incorporates that into law enforcement which can be brought back to this community. By the time we hire an officer, and once you count salary, the training itself, the uniforms and all the equipment they need, we’re talking easily $10,000-$15,000. It all adds up very quickly.”

7. How would you handle a crisis or controversy if elected as Sheriff? For instance, the bombs that were planted on bridges around the county decades ago.

“I feel as though any controversy must be dealt with head-on,” Keltner said. “There’s no need to beat around the bush. We just need to be transparent about it. If you sit on something, sometimes it stews and makes it worse. As far as a situation like the bombs goes, it's going to take a lot of people. Luckily, I have a good working relationship with our emergency management. I have a good working relationship with several people from the Indiana State Police (ISP) because it’s going to be an ‘all hands on deck’ situation.

“We have so many resources, and I sometimes feel they go underutilized,” he added. “A big one would be the notification of people. So, we have this new system in place called CodeRED, and I think that would play a valiant effort in letting people know what’s going on. We can easily let people know ‘this is the situation we have, so we need to minimize travel until we get the situation squelched.’ If we’re using this scenario, the bombs were placed under bridges and things of that nature. I also have a terrific working relationship with a lot of the guys from INDOT (Indiana Department of Transportation). With CodeRED, we are really able to get the word out there and let people know what’s going on and say, ‘This is what we’re doing. We’re getting people in place and coordinating with EMA and explosives through the ISP because that’s who handles all of our EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal). We are coordinating with them, and we will provide updates as they become available.’ I feel that is important too. Let the people know what the situation is, but also keep them updated. Keep them in the loop instead of wondering and guessing about what’s going on.”

8. What do you believe sets you apart from your opponents in this race?

“I believe I am a good mixture of the old way policing used to be, and the new way it is now,” he answered. “Things have really changed, and I believe I am a good mixture of the old and new. With that being said, if I get elected, I hope to blend the old ways with how things were done with some new ideas. I believe there is no one-set way of how things should be done. I believe that by surrounding yourself with good people, you come to good decisions. It should not always be just one person’s opinion of how something should be done. You might have a good idea, and I might have a good idea. But when we put those two ideas together, we go from having a good idea to a great idea. There’s that potential to make something bigger and better than what you had previously thought. My hope is that at the end of the day, if I get elected sheriff, we can all sit down and bounce ideas off each other. Maybe you’d have something different that would work better than my idea, or our ideas might just meld together and be the correct answer for everybody. At the end of the day, my ultimate hope is to provide Washington County with the best our department can give every day. Some days will be better than others, but the hope is that you can provide Washington County with the best that you could give that day.

“Another thing that sets me apart from other candidates is my recent working knowledge of the jail,” added Keltner. “In 2024, I was asked by Sheriff Brent Miller to step into the position of jail commander. From April to November of 2024, I oversaw the daily operations of the jail.”

9. Do you have any final thoughts you’d like to leave with our readers?

“If elected, I hope to give you the best that I can every day. That is my hope. And to help make Washington County a better community in whatever aspect that may be. I am a firm believer of putting back into your community. That’s why I help with Unified Sports and Special Olympics. That’s why I have been a part of Awareness Washington County, and that’s why I go do something for a class whenever the YMCA calls me. That’s why I go to the trunk or treats to give our kids a safe place to go dress up and collect candy. That’s why I volunteer at the fair. I want to see this community flourish, and that’s why I am a big proponent of giving back. Being elected sheriff would be the ultimate give-back for me because this community has treated me amazingly.

“I’m a huge proponent of us being involved in the community, however that may look,” he continued. “Whether it’s at the fair, Pekin 4th of July, Friday Night on the Square, or any community event that we can be a part of to give back to the community. I want to be mentors for our youth, and I want to give those that are incarcerated in our jail a better opportunity once they get out by giving those resources if we can through programs in the jail. Any way we can make this community better and safer, I’m all about it. I’ve lived in Washington County my whole life, and I love it. What other communities can boast the things we boast? For some, it’s just small-town America. But for a lot of people, it’s home.”