El Paso County Sheriff Bill Elder sworn in for second term

El Paso County Sheriff Bill Elder was sworn in for a second term in Colorado Springs Tuesday at the New Life Church.

Elder was first elected as Sheriff back in 2014. We were able to speak with Elder after the ceremony about what’s next for the Sheriff’s Office.

“Team building stuff that we are going to work on, I’ve got a staff workshop that we are going to do in late February. At that, we are going to develop our strategic plan for the next four years,” Elder said.

As for his main goals over the next four years, Elder said, “The number one goal is going to be the continued push on black market marijuana. The second is probably going to be mental health within our community and in our jail.”

We also wanted to know about Colorado Springs Police Chief Pete Carey, who will serve as the county undersheriff starting on Feb. 11 after retiring from CSPD.

“We’ve worked really hard over the last four years building collaborative relationship among law enforcement agencies in the last four years,” said Elder. “And Pete brings a continued effort towards that. That’s my goal, is to increase the relationship between the police departments and the Sheriff’s Office.”

Elder has served El Paso County for 40 years and says he’s honored to continue and do it.