Sheriff-Elect Mark Lewis Outlines Plans in Dorchester Co.

(DORCHESTER CO. Md ) – From Hurlock to downtown Cambridge. Dorchester County voters have made their choice, Mark Lewis will be the county’s new sheriff. We caught up with the sheriff elect about the first issues he plans to tackle after his swearing in.

After winning the Republican primary, defeat long time Sheriff James Phillips jr. this past summer, and democrat opponent Christine LaMonica in the general election, Sheriff-Elect and former Cambridge Police Chief Mark Lewis is moving into the next chapter of his career in law enforcement.

The Sheriff-Elect tells WMDT, “It means a lot to me to be able to move forward from Cambridge PD. To this new position as sheriff, it’s going to be challenging the sheriff’s office and the sheriff has a lot more responsibilities…”

One of the first things Sheriff-Elect Lewis says he wants to focus on is growing the Sheriffs office, and that starts with greater visibility in the community.

“Then we’ll start working on looking at recruitment and retention. That’s the most important thing, keeping the deputies that we have. And recruiting good employees, good deputies …And a lot of that. I’m looking to start a cadet program…” says Lewis.

We also asked the Sheriff-Elect about plans surrounding transparency and community engagement.

He tells us, “When officers go to a scene, they may think it’s a minor incident, but to that individual, it’s one of the most important things that’s going on in their lives at this time. So we have to have follow up investigations to keep those victims up to date on what’s going on with their cases.”

Sheriff-Elect Lewis will be sworn into office in December.