It continues to be another very busy year for the Indiana Sheriffs' Association and the 92 Indiana Sheriffs. We just completed another Mid-Winter Conference in beautiful Brown County hosted by Sheriff Robert "Buck" Stogsdill. Sheriff "Buck" was proud and eager for all the Sheriffs to stop by and visit the new Brown County Law Enforcement Center. The Brown County Sheriff's Office will soon be making their move in the near future into the facility. The Indiana Sheriffs' Association commends the Sheriff, the local government officials and the citizens of Brown County on completing such a state-of-the-art facility.

Showing continued support this year, a record number of Sheriffs attended our Winter Conference. President Wm. Leon Allen, Sheriff of Greene County, conducted the meetings and welcomed everyone in attendance. The Indiana Sheriffs' Association provided two training seminars and a legislative update seminar at our Winter Conference. Every year we continue to inform our sheriffs through training seminars and conferences.

As Sheriffs, we continue to communicate with State Legislators to make them aware of our concerns throughout Indiana of the needs in running and maintaining our jail facilities. We hope that making our Legislators aware of the issues, they will be more inclined to help pass the legislation needed to accomplish our goals. Some of those concerns are; medical care reimbursement rates for county jails along with medical costs for housing inmates along with concern for housing inmates addicted to Methamphetamine and other substance and alcohol abuse.

The Indiana Sheriffs' Association continues to be a part of regional Sheriff's meetings throughout Indiana. These monthly meetings have become a good source of exchanging information. If you have information you'd like us to pass on to your local Sheriff please contact our office. It is the Indiana Sheriffs' Association mission to help maintain the Office of the Sheriff:

• Through training and education information in the fields of law enforcement, crime prevention and detection, jail management, public safety and civil process to all Indiana Sheriffs.
  
• Support developing laws and policies that promote public safety to its citizens in Indiana.
  
• Provide information and technical assistance to the Sheriffs of Indiana to assist them in providing effective and quality law enforcement services to the citizens of Indiana.
  
• Encourage the involvement of each Sheriff to work towards promoting professionalism and high standards in county law enforcement.
  
• Promote positive interaction among all criminal justice agencies and associations in an effort to increase the effectiveness of law enforcement services to the citizens of Indiana for the betterment of the law enforcement profession.
  
• Maintain and enhance the Office of the Sheriff in the State of Indiana.

I also want to direct you to the Indiana Sheriffs' Sex Offender Registry, www.indianasheriffs.org . Effective January 1, 2003, Zachary's Law requires sheriff's departments to jointly establish and maintain a web site providing detailed information about individuals who are required to register as sex or violent offenders at Indiana sheriff departments (or, in Marion County, the Indianapolis Police Department). The purpose of the registry is to inform the general public about the identity, location, and appearance of sex and violent offenders who live, work, or study in Indiana. We have also discovered the web site gets nearly 1,000 hits per day. The Indiana Sheriffs' Association maintains the web site and would ask if you know of a person who had been convicted of one of the offenses that would require listing them on the offender site, but has failed to do so, please contact your local sheriff or our office so this person can be located.

Sincerely, D. Michael Eslinger

On behalf of all Sheriffs in Indiana, I extend you greetings. Being elected as Sheriff of Greene County and now serving my second term, and also serving as the President of the Indiana Sheriffs' Association is a great honor to me.

We are proud to present this information so you might learn more about our Association and the services we provide. If you are not a member and are interested in joining, please click on the Membership tab and download a copy of our Associate Membership application.

The American Sheriff is the oldest form of organized law enforcement. Indiana's first constitution was adopted in 1816 when Indiana joined the Union; it also created the office of Sheriff as an elected official in each county. Although there were Constitutional amendments in 1948 and 1952 that changed the term of office of the Sheriff, the constitutional provisions establishing the office itself remains the same as it was in 1816. Throughout the years we have evolved to meet the challenges of the modern world while retaining the principle of being accountable to our constituents.

I was elected the 2005 Indiana Sheriffs' Association President by the other 91 elected Sheriffs in Indiana. As President of the Indiana Sheriffs' Association I will work closely with the other sheriffs serving on the Board of Directors as well as the Indiana Sheriffs' Association Legislative Committee. I will also be working with Sheriffs on various training initiatives and other concerns from throughout Indiana Sheriff's Offices. I will be representing Indiana at the various National Sheriffs' Association conferences, seminars and events throughout the year.

As a result of being the Indiana Sheriffs' Association President in 2005, the Indiana Sheriffs' Association annual conference will be held in Indianapolis this coming summer. This conference will bring nearly 92 elected Indiana Sheriffs, members of their staff, family members and vendors to the Marion County area for nearly one week. The Indiana Sheriffs' Association will also celebrate this year's conference as our 75th Anniversary Conference. The dates for our 2005 conference will be July 15 - July 19, 2005.

The Sheriffs in Indiana stand strong and are ready to help and support you, the people of Indiana.

Please feel free to contact me anytime on matters or concerns you might have.