On the ballot

VINTON — With a little over 39 years in law enforcement — all in Benton County — Sheriff Ronald Tippett is switching gears. He’s running for Benton County Supervisor for District 1.

Tippett is running unopposed.

A Black Hawk County native, Tippett grew up in La Porte City and graduated from high school there.

He studied police science at Hawkeye Institute of Technology and psychology and criminology at Wartburg College. He became a certified peace officer in 1990.

Tippett started his law enforcement career in the jail and the dispatch center, he said. He served on the Belle Plaine Police Department and was chief there for almost 11 years.

Tippett returned to the sheriff’s department in 2001. He’s finishing his second term at Benton County Sheriff and is not running for reelection to that office.

“It’s time for a change for me,” said Tippett. “And Benton Couty’s been home for a long time. I want to be part of Benton County moving forward in a positive direction.”

Benton County residents have told Tippett what they want and don’t want for the county.

“We do not want the corporate wind. We do not want the corporate solar. People would like to see less county spending to help with property tax reductions,” Tippett said.

Residents would also like to see the county run smoothly and efficiently.

“That’s some of the biggest things people have relayed to me,” Tippett said.

Benton County doesn’t have wind turbines at this time. “We have an ordinance dealing with that for putting those on farm ground with a higher CSR rating,” said Tippitt. “And that has been on the books over here for many years.

“We want to make sure that we can move economic development forward in a positive direction without any harm to our residents,” Tippett said.

County residents are not supportive of the CO2 pipeline or the way eminent domain is being used to take land for it, said Tippett.

“I don’t feel that’s right either. Everything you read about it, seems like for some it’s going to be a for profit thing, and to me that does not fall under eminent domain.”

Mental health is a problem everywhere in the state, said Tippett. “We have done a lot of things in Benton County to help.”

Benton County is one of many Iowa counties that has added a mental health liaison to work with law enforcement. “That’s the big piece that we put in a few years ago,” said Tippett.

Mental health is key, said Tippett. “It’s a nationwide problem that we can do better.”

Some of the issues the county faces depend on what the State hands down, said Tippett. “We’ve just got to wait and see how it all comes down from the state. We’re kind of in the dark just yet.”

Benton County has had conflicts with its human resources department and with its health board in the past year and faced complaints of violating open meeting laws in 2023.

“We have had our share of negative press, and I want to move forward in a positive direction,” said Tippett.

(“On the Ballot” is a Hometown Current series profiling candidates in Benton, Iowa and Poweshiek Counties. Articles will run as candidates are interviewed. Candidates who do not respond to requests for interviews will not be included in the series.)