Write-in Mark Knowles for Rush County Sheriff

Hello, I’m Mark Knowles and I’m running as a write-in candidate for Sheriff of Rush County.

First of all, I would like to give a special thank you to Sheriff Ward Corsair and his family for the 27 years of dedication to Rush County in law enforcement and I will miss him greatly as a leader. As his friend and a member of his team, I feel that had I announced my intent to run as your Sheriff before he made his final decision to start his new journey, it would have been disrespectful and unprofessional, even though I have always had his support. I know that I am not alone in this thinking as the majority of our team have the same view. I know it was a difficult decision to leave and thank him for his endorsement. I am honored that he entrusted me as his Undersheriff to protect our team and our community and trusts me to fill the role as the Sheriff to carry on and continue our growth. I know Rush County is dear to his heart and he is like me in wanting to make sure to protect the things you hold dear. This upcoming general election is very important for our community and will be determined by our voters, taking a few moments to write a candidates name in the Sheriff section. This also requires the name you choose to be spelled correctly.

I would be honored to fill this important role as the leader of the only law-enforcement agency in Rush County. This position requires a leader that is not afraid to stand up for or against people when it comes time to do what is right, because of his/her fear of being rejected, ridiculed, or embarrassed. This is a position that requires a person that can hit the ground running and has the respect of the team and the community. This is about the citizens and the team, not a personal journey. Rush County needs a leader, like the previous leadership, that has the passion to protect and willingness to do whatever it takes to work things out. There is no room for anything other than a commitment to win and to be there when needed, no matter what. When lives are on the line, there is no room for it being alright either way. I care for my team and our community, so you will never hear me indicate it is alright if I fail. This also includes indicating if my team fails.

Every call that my team and I respond to involves a person having a bad day. Whether they are a victim or suspect, it is a bad day for that person usually. Our team communicates each case and most calls with each other, wanting to grow and learn and to not fail the ones they’ve sworn to protect. This includes every case being reviewed by leadership to assist their growth and to make them better investigators and public servants for you. I would be honored to continue to lead this team, trying to give them the training so they could go work elsewhere, but treating them in a manner that they will never want to leave.

As the current Undersheriff, I have the privilege to lead a team that does this job for this community, knowing that when they put their uniform on and walk out the door, they or one of their team members may not be going home to their families. They are a strong, reliable group that everyday makes sure they conduct themselves in a professional manner. The deputies conduct patrols through our community and strive to see a case done properly from the beginning to the end. Our dispatchers are compassionate and do their best to protect our deputies and the citizens. I am very protective of my team and they are very protective of me. We expect the highest quality of professionalism from each other. Anything less is a disservice to our community and the rest of our team. I am fortunate that my team members put this community ahead of their personal benefit and would put their life on the line to protect a total stranger and a fellow team member.

As the current Undersheriff and if elected as Sheriff, I would like to continue to protect our team and our community, continuing quality law enforcement services that represents honor, integrity, and trust in the Rush County Sheriff’s Office and to the community. I am not a politician and do not like hearing promises of what someone will start doing if elected. If they feel it should have been done, they should have already been doing it. In my career, I have always done more than the minimum requirements and if something is important to you, you pushing yourself to do more than the minimum if elected should not be a platform to stand on. Quality law enforcement services have always been, and should continue to be, the efforts of the leadership with our agency. My heart is to serve and protect and as I have had overwhelming support over the years, my hope is you will put trust in me for this important role to continue to take care of our team, other first responder agencies, and our citizens.

In my over eighteen years of law-enforcement experience, nine and a half years as a paid firefighter, six years in the military as a healthcare sergeant providing medical service to soldiers, several years of operating successful businesses, and serving as a council member at a church in our community, I have tried to make the most out of every experience to better the ones I was protecting and serving, while learning the valuable skills expected as a leader.

During this time, I have tried to go over and beyond to serve the citizens and that’s why I’m here, to be a public servant for this community that puts our “community first” and protects the “constitution always”. This is what Rush County needs, a Sheriff that knows how to work a call, has a proven track record for criminal investigations; a Sheriff that will be boots on the ground and help the deputies and citizens when they need it, but at the same time can lead, be approachable and engage with the community needs effectively, while also working with commissioners and taking care of the budget.

I want the deputies and dispatchers to continue to grow as future leaders in our community to serve the citizens properly, making the crisis they may be going through better. I want the team to be part of the community, not just in times of a crisis, but times of fun when we celebrate and continue our community policing efforts with the citizens and our children. I want our deputies to have pride when they put their uniform on. I want the citizens to have pride in their sheriff’s office, I want to be part of this community. I love this county and the people in it.

My wife, kids, and I did not move to Rush County for me to be in law-enforcement. I am in law-enforcement here because we chose to live in Rush County. It’s getting harder to find a place where most of the community has common sense and supports their local law enforcement. This is what we found in this community, which is why we decided to move here.

I am willing to step up in the role as Sheriff and be a public servant and leader for the people to protect what I love. Even during stressful times, I will not give up, I will not quit, I will not go elsewhere until I am told I must or until it’s time to retire. When you care about something you will fight to protect it and that is what I’m willing to do, whether this means in a traditional sense of law-enforcement or by our community policing efforts to provide services for our community that many agencies have stopped providing long ago. Many people have heard me tell them over the years that this is my ministry, and this has not changed. I’m ready to be a voice for our citizens and will always try to be available.

If anyone has questions, please stop and talk to me. I encourage you to consider me and write my name on the ballot as who you would like to be your next Sheriff. I have confidence in our community and I hope I’ve earned your confidence over the years to add me as your write-in choice for Sheriff during the upcoming General Election. I’m Mark Knowles and I’m running as a write-in candidate for Sheriff of Rush County and would love to earn your vote. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Mark Knowles

About my life

My wife and I have been together for eighteen years, married for fifteen years. We both have grown children, as well as one child living at home still. Although I am a registered Republican, I do not judge anyone by their political beliefs, but by their actions and how they treat others. Even at a young age, I’ve always tried to see things through, including working towards a second-degree black belt in martial arts by the age of fourteen years of age. Anytime I have left a position, it was to better my career, my family, or due to things occurring that I refused to be part of, which was not corrected after I addressed it. In my career, I have been involved in everything from enforcing traffic violations, working accidents, thefts, burglaries, arresting murderers, and many other crimes in between. I have been first on scene and in charge of large scale incidents and have assisted medical needs to thousands. Every business that I was brought in to lead was losing money when they opened for business each day, until I turned them around to be top producers in the area or the country. My passion has always been in law enforcement however. I try to be the type of person that goes the extra mile to help an individual, as many citizens in our community can attest too. I studied to get into the ministry, being a few classes away from being a certified minister, but then realized that law enforcement was my ministry, being able to help more people in more ways than I ever could by becoming a pastor. I am not perfect, but I strive for perfection and excellence as a public servant and leader in all the work I do, realizing that it is not an end goal, but rather a process. I try to be prepared for any crisis for the ones that I am entrusted to protect, protecting them as they encounter it. My goal is to be the law enforcement officer the county entrusted me to be and needs. Ever since my employment, I have been very active, trying to lead by example consistently taking the highest number of calls each year for over five years in a row. This is a big task, considering I work with a team that most challenges themselves to be the law enforcement experts the community has entrusted them to be also. I am proud to be a part of a team that follows through, having a higher clearance rate for crimes than many other agencies. I’ve been told that I am biased, but I feel that I work for one of the best law enforcement agencies in the state of Kansas. My goal in life is to not be a stumbling block for anyone, but I will enforce and protect the ones I care about and will always handle matters in a fair, ethical manner that is consistent among all calls, holding accountability when needed, whether it is a member of our team or someone in the public.

Law Enforcement experience

My career started as a Reserve Police Officer in Southeast Kansas. I later became a Kansas certified law enforcement officer, spending over 18 years in law enforcement. Nine and a half years of my career was spent as a paid firefighter/rescue also. I currently hold the position of Undersheriff for the Rush County Sheriff’s Office.

Training

I have completed thousands of hours of law enforcement training, hundreds of hours of firefighter training, and thousands of hours of medical training in my career. I have also completed required training for dispatch duties.

Military

I served in the Kansas Army National Guard, being a Healthcare SGT. (combat medic) for six years. During my time in the military, I was a leader of other medics to provide the medical needs for 1200 soldiers.

Court Room experience

I have testified many times in a court room, many times going against some of the best attorneys in the state of Kansas. My experience in the courtroom has made me a better officer to hold accountability on a case. I have testified in court for all types of cases from traffic infractions to murder cases on national television that I located and arrested, later being convicted.

Business experience

My first management position was at sixteen years old as a night manager for a grocery store. I was working full time and going to high school full time. I have also ran several businesses, having a total of four plus years of management experience as a store director/manager. Each business was failing until I was hired, quickly turning the stores around to be top performers, ranking number one in the region for several years and running three other stores at the same time, taking them from the bottom twenty in the nation, to each being in the top 500 (one in the top two) out of 3700 stores nationwide.

Business training

During my experience, I have been blessed with resources, as well as doing my own studying to become a better leader for the ones entrusted to me. One example, was being given access to leadership training that large organizations paid thousands of dollars for each employee to attend. This leadership training was given to me for free, simply because the former CEO of Avon and several other corporations believed in me and knew I would share the lessons to make future leaders in whatever I was entrusted to be a leader in.

Mark Knowles time with the Rush County Sheriff Office

Other than conducting normal law enforcement duties, consistently handling many calls and assisting with criminal cases for prosecution, I have been active in the community and in the department to better the team and the community.

In the community

  • During Covid lockdowns, I organized with local youth to make and hang pictures on the outside windows for the nursing home residents to see from inside the building when they could not have visitors.
  • I implemented a youth food drive for area elementary students, each receiving a stuffed toy and a pizza party afterwards, providing over 1300 food items to the Rush County Food Bank. This will be an annual event, with more events in the community to come.
  • I have reached out to area programs, establishing agreements to allow Rush County residents to use the programs. One example is citizens now have access to resources in Great Bend for clothing, personal hygiene, diapers and baby supplies, etc. at no cost, if in need. Other program agreements are in the works now, to include a program to assist senior citizens in an emergency and also looking to start a program to assist parents if a child is missing. I always try to be prepared, hoping the resources are never needed.
  • I have created several presentations for the community and have assisted in the instruction to the community, to include drug awareness in the workplace, social media safety for high school students, and for drivers education. Future plans for more of these types of presentations in the community are being set. Education to our community and youth is one of many future plans to help combat drug activity in our community, as a Fentanyl crisis is starting to close in around our community.
  • Many times I have used personal funds to make a difference in area lives. The latest example of this was at the McCracken rodeo, when over 100 glow necklaces were handed out to the youth.
  • I have reached out to other first responder agencies in Rush County to guide and assist in their equipment needs to help the citizens of Rush County. The latest efforts include locating, organizing, and assist presenting the needs for equipment, which provided over $36,000 in rescue tools and other equipment for the La Crosse Fire Department at no cost to the taxpayers. I plan to continue these efforts to reach all of the first responder agencies in Rush County to work as a team for the citizens and assist in updating equipment needs to take care of the community, if the department heads would like assistance.
  • I have implemented a plan to attend area city council meetings in the last few months. Some ideas have already been shared with some of the city administrators and council members, with plans to reach out to more in the near future. My goal is to show the communities that we are all in this together and build relationships to continue building trust in the Rush County Sheriff’s Office.
Mark Knowles celebrates with La Crosse students as they meet their goal for a local food drive, learning they get a pizza party. All children got to pick a stuffed toy for the event.

In the department

  • Knowing that if needed, a casualty needing an AED in an emergency has a ten percent less chance of survival each minute that an AED is not in place, I assisted to make sure the department has an AED in each vehicle.
  • I located funding to provide an Improvised First Aid Kit for each patrol vehicle, providing life saving supplies for each deputy
  • It is not uncommon for individuals to have a dead battery on their vehicle. Unfortunately, with all of the equipment in our vehicles, it is not good on our equipment to jumpstart a vehicle. I located funding in the area that provided a jump start pack for each vehicle, being able to provide this service in our community. This is in addition to my plan for our agency to continue our services to the citizens of vehicle unlocks, assisting and changing flat tires, etc.
  • I assisted with putting a drone program in place for our department that is available to be used for search and rescue, assisting on fire calls, as well as law enforcement needs
  • I located funding to provide a ballistic helmet to each deputy, as well as military grade night vision, for officer safety, as well as assisting in search and rescue
  • I located numerous funding programs that provided two FLIR thermal cameras, to be used for search and rescue, as well as officer safety
  • I assisted in updating our evidence preparation and storage procedures, meeting state requirements, finding six separate providers to accomplish this
  • I located funding to put a pressure washer in place at our office, to assist in maintaining the cleanliness of our patrol vehicles
  • Other equipment and services have been provided during this time, with a current total dollar amount being over $60,000 in approximately a year for the Rush County Sheriff’s Office, with more in the works waiting approval and no cost to Rush County residents on any of the needed equipment that has been received

“You can easily judge the character of a man, by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.” -James D. Miles