Paul D. “Blue” Keller
Education: Master’s in National Security Affairs, Naval Postgraduate and Defense Language Schools, Monterey; Master’s in secondary education, UALR; Bachelor’s and ROTC, Arkansas Tech University
Prior Elected Office or Public Service: retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel; current Director of Criminal Investigation Division, Arkansas Insurance Department
Republican
Community Service: Special Forces Association, Southern States Police Benevolent Association, Association of the United States Army, Feed Arkansas Kids, Church at Rock Creek
Do you support sending young offenders to restorative justice programs or other avenues that divert young people out of the juvenile justice system and toward new opportunities? If not, please explain your position. If so, what would you do as Sheriff to promote these programs? I support any program that is going to truly help our young people. Ultimately, people have to be responsible for their actions, no matter their age. However, it is always more desirable to mentor and lead young people instead of putting them in the criminal justice system. Also, If a program exists that can rehabilitate, while simultaneously instilling a sense of ownership in one's behavior, I'd give that a good hard look. No one wants any of our youth to become a statistic or get "ground up by the machine," so I would give strong consideration to anything that could help stop crime before it starts.
Do you support rehabilitation programs in prison, jail, and in the local community? If so, how would you advocate to continue expanding funding for these programs? I support rehabilitation programs that have a proven track record of providing real results. I don't support the waste of taxpayers money on pet projects or programs that have not been thoroughly reviewed and tested. I'm for what works and keeps our citizens safe, deputies motivated, and inmates appropriately engaged.
A study by VERA Institute of Justice found that 63% of people in Arkansas’s jails are being held in pretrial detention. What are the factors contributing to this rate? What is your position on current pretrial incarceration rates? Studies show that pretrial incarceration has increased since 2017. When you add a court backlog due to COVID and local jails that are overpopulated, you realize that we need a better answer to pretrial detention. As sheriff of Pulaski County, I will work with civic leaders, judges and other law enforcement agencies to reduce the number of non-violent offenders incarcerated in the Pulaski County Jail. We cannot incarcerate our way out of this problem, but we can be open to new ideas. My preference is to always do everything we can to keep people out of the criminal justice system.
What do you think is the most effective way to deal with low-level drug offenders? This is a problem that has plagued this country for years. The legislature enacts the laws that we are required to enforce evenly. It is up to the court system to determine what punitive actions should be taken. I will work closely with the courts to provide different sentencing options such as an expanded community service and weekend incarceration.
Do you support civilian oversight of law enforcement? How would you encourage community participation in law enforcement oversight? For my entire adult life, I've worked in fields that were largely uniformed with civilian oversight. The Sheriff is a law enforcement officer. The laws of the state and county are made by the civilian legislature and governing bodies. It's our job to go out and enforce those laws, help provide safety to the community, and to do all of this with professionalism and respect for everyone. I will be in every corner of the county seeking out the leaders of the respective communities, asking them questions while doing my best to answer theirs. With me, there will be no smokescreens, only transparency and a genuine attempt at mutual understanding.