Booth hopes to shake things up in bid for Danville sheriff

Johnnie Wayne Booth has thought about running for sheriff of Danville, but he entered the race this go-around after a request.

“A bunch of my coworkers asked me,” Booth said. “They asked me to run.”

He plans on shaking things up at the sheriff’s office to get back a family atmosphere.

“Moral has gotten to a real low state,” he said. “I’d really like to get us back to functioning as a unit.”

Booth also said he wants to cut the leniency inmates and employees experience.

Inmates automatically get privileges like television and phone access, Booth said. He wants to cut back some of the privileges and have the inmates earn them instead.

“They don’t have to get up and keep the blocks clean,” Booth said.

He said some employees abuse the office’s sick leave policies. If a virus starts going around, too many people call in sick with the virus, Booth said.

“Nobody’s perfect,” he said. “But we can be a little bit tighter in things that we do.”

The employees also deserve more benefits, he said. Workers get comp time when they are called into work on their off day. The employees eventually get the time back but not always when they want it. He wants the comp time available when employees request it.

The Danville native has worked for the Danville Sheriff’s Office for 31 years. He worked three shifts at the office and currently works in the jail’s control room. He was born and raised in Danville.

He will be running against Lt. Mike Mondul of the Danville Police Department and Lt. T.L. Childress of the Danville Sheriff’s Office.