Kurt Schneider runs for Ashland County Sheriff post

ASHLAND — Two Ashland men are vying for votes in the Ohio Republican primary, to be held on March 19. Early voting began Feb. 21.

Kurt Schneider, 51, lives on East Main Street with his wife, Candice, in a house next to Ashland Drive Thru II and Car Wash — a business Candice has operated since October 2014. Candice Schneider also works at the Ashland County Sheriff’s Office.

He currently works for Bensen Fire and Safety Consulting, a job he’s had since 2012. He also serves as an unpaid peace officer for the Hardin County Sheriff’s Office and he worked at the Ashland County Sheriff’s Office from 2003 to 2016, among other law enforcement roles around the state since 1994.

His opponent, Chad Enderby, also 51, lives on South Countryside Drive in Ashland with his wife, Sandy, who works as the executive director at the Ashland County Council on Aging.

Here’s more about Enderby.

Both announced bids for the position in 2023, following E. Wayne Risner’s announcement that he wouldn’t run for another term.

Whoever wins in March will become the Republican candidate on the November ballot. No Democratic candidates filed for election in Ashland County. Independents have until March 18, and must gather 188 signatures.

The winner of the election in November will begin his or her job on Jan. 1, 2025 and earn a $78,926 salary, according to county documents. 

This story is broken into sections. 

Below, you will find a Q&A session that each candidate participated in during the reporting of this story, a summary of their priorities, more details on their work history and details gathered from publicly available campaign finance documents.

In their own words

Ashland Source: Why do you want to be sheriff? 

Schneider: Well that place has been a beacon of trust in this county for decades. And oftentimes, you know, in all these different places I’ve worked, you are asked questions about ‘how can I do this?’ Or, ‘hey, can you help me do this?’ Or ‘can this happen?’ And sometimes you become frustrated because you want to be able to give these folks answers. You want to be able to help them, but your knowledge base is limited. And so your quest for more knowledge for how to help these folks get through these scenarios and situations that they’re in never stops. Because you feel like you’re letting them down. 

So you keep learning, learning, learning. And so hopefully you can give them the answers that they need. And it may not be the direct answer, but at least you have networked. So far, I’ve worked in every county in this state and you’ve learned that, okay, these people can help you. Here, this is what they can do. This is what they can do. And then you give them this sense of calm saying, ‘well listen, you know, I don’t know who to call. Let’s call a sheriff and find out what he can help us with, because who else would know?’ So that’s part of this, you know, I want to be able to help folks the best way we possibly can. Keeping folks safe, keeping them alive, doing as best as we can do to be their advocate for their safety at every level and every opportunity we can. And I’ve never stopped trying to learn that. And I think that’s incumbent by all of us to do that, at the sheriff’s office, and in every aspect of public safety. Because you’re asked, ‘Hey, I don’t know. Who should I call for this?’ Or ‘what should I do for that?’ And the more information you have, the better it is for them, and the faster they get it — perfect. 

So this is an opportunity to be that guy at the top of the list where if no one knows where to call, they can call here. And hopefully you can get them the answer and send them in the right direction so that they can get their dilemma resolved, whatever it may be.

AS: What qualifies you for this position? 

Schneider: It’s the holistic perspective of what that office really means. I mean, it is that agency where if you need help, you really don’t sometimes know what help you need. But all you know is you’re going to be picking up that phone and calling 911 and when you need the help, you’re going to get it right now, right fast. And if they can’t get it to you right that second, ‘help’s on the way and we’re going to get it to you.’ That never stops. That’s the first call, the first moment that you need help. And so that’s when it all starts. And so you get the things heading your way and then that dialogue is consistent. So maybe this is the path it starts and now it’s gone this way or that way or this way. And so you have to be able to process that. But my experience, understanding how all of that works and every aspect of public safety brings this holistic perspective to the table. So that place will always be that beacon — if I don’t know who to call — that I know I can call the sheriff’s office and they will be able to get me in the direction I need to be. And ultimately that translates into safe environments, protecting our families and keeping people alive. 

AS: You have said you’d bring back 911 dispatches back to Ashland County on day one. Can you elaborate on this change?  

Schneider: You can’t talk about the 911 system in five minutes. You just can’t — it’s a really complex scenario. But what people need to understand is that our 911 system in this county is good. 

But we have issues with it. And it’s not the idea that our 911 system is broke. It is just that we have things that are not in the best interest of the public happening through that call. But there are these inherent delays that are built into the system. Why did that happen? Well, look, there’s a lot of weeds to that, but at the end of the day, there was a decision made to not rely on the sheriff’s office to do that in this county where all of the 911 calls come to and move it 30 miles away to another county with the idea that there would be a better service and that we would save money, neither of which is happening. Now, why is it not a better service if we have a system that has a delay built into your call for help? To me, I don’t know how that translates to a better service. First. Second, we have spent a lot of tax dollars in another county. 

One could easily say, ‘well geez, you know, we spent all this money over there for a dispatching service. Why can’t we just contract with Wooster PD or Wooster Fire Department and have them come over here and give us fire service?’ I mean, to me that’s like the translation of that. Why are we not investing in our own safety in this county? This delay, this idea that it’s okay to have a delay built into your call for help is foolish. I mean, seconds count. 

I have been on more than one occasion at that door kicking it in or moving it in or opening the door and watch people take their last breath or collapse to the floor and die, essentially. And what could time have helped? Who knows? But certainly time is always of the essence. And the faster we can get there to give you the help that you need … I mean, I don’t know that that’s rocket science. I think that’s pretty common sense.

Schneider cited section 307.63 of the Ohio Revised Code, which authorizes the sheriff of counties with populations less than 750,000 people to “operate the countywide public safety communications system unless, before commencing operation of the system, the sheriff gives written notice to the board of county commissioners that he chooses not to do so.”

That law, he said, gives him the authority to make changes to the 911 system on day one of being sworn in as sheriff.

Summary of priorities 

Schneider’s campaign revolves around the 911 issue. He has promised to re-establish the sheriff office’s 911 dispatch center as the hub for emergency communication within the city and county. 

The city and county used to share a dispatch center, located in the sheriff’s Justice Center complex. In 2016, the city left the county to join WARCOG. The move cost Ashland County, at the time, about $420,000 a year in revenue.

The sheriff’s office still operates a county dispatch center, but city police and fire dispatches are routed to WARCOG.

A discussion sparked in 2018 when Ashland city officials considered leaving WARCOG to once again contract with the Ashland County Sheriff’s Office, but that never happened.

His website lists other priorities, such as boosting deputy response times, tackling the drug crisis, fighting illegal immigration and child trafficking, defending gun owners, stopping federal overreach, standing for conservative values, reducing repeat offenders and keeping ACSO as a “beacon of trust.”

Find more at Schneider’s website. 

Work history

Schneider has worked in a variety of law enforcement roles since 1990, while he was still enrolled at Fremont Jr.-Sr. High School, a school in Fremont, Ind. — where his father lived. His parents were divorced.

He worked as a volunteer firefighter for the Fremont Volunteer Fire Department starting in April 1990.

When he graduated from high school in June 1991, an opportunity to gain fire fighting and EMS training in Marion led him to Ohio, where his mother lived, and where from 1991 to 1996 he worked as an EMT and firefighter with Morrow County EMS.

In 1994, he landed a job as a peace officer with Cardington Village Police, where he eventually earned the title of sergeant. In the mid-1990s to 2003, he worked a variety of public safety-related jobs, including as a paramedic, firefighter and park ranger with the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District, the Madison Township Fire Department and the Mansfield Division of Dire.

In 2003, he accepted a position with the Ashland County Sheriff’s Office as a part-time special deputy, a job he held through 2011. 

But in 2007, he accepted a full-time job with the Ohio Fire Marshal as an arson investigator — what he described as a career goal.  

Schneider received a performance evaluation in 2011 that stated his “overall performance rating is satisfactory but his performance was rated less than satisfactory in the areas of teamwork and cooperation” based on his “ongoing questioning of management’s decision-making and authority.”

Schneider appealed the evaluation in June 2011, stating the February 2010-February 2011 evaluation was “not a good reflection of my work performance” and that “having this evaluation in my personnel file forever could be detrimental to me.” 

Ultimately, Schneider’s appeal was denied because the evaluation did not affect his pay.

In December 2011, that job came to an end. His personnel file with the Ohio Fire Marshal shows a letter of resignation from Schneider. “This is your official notice of my intent to resign, under duress, my position as Arson Investigator …” he wrote.

Schneider said a department head at the Ohio Fire Marshal, who was appointed by the governor at the time, began getting bureaucratic and “political.” 

“And I’m like, ‘nah, this isn’t for me,’” he said. “I’m not here to be somebody’s political puppet. I’m in this to save lives.” 

Three days after resigning, Schneider received a full-time position at the ACSO, working as a deputy. From 2011 to 2016, Schneider received pay bumps and a number of citations, his personnel file shows.

One of them came from the Buckeye State Sheriff’s Association for an incident involving an “extremely upset” man with a gun who had threatened to shoot himself. Schneider, along with other deputies, talked the man out of harming himself and others.

“Because of their compassion and professionalism they were able to bring this incident to a safe and peaceful conclusion,” reads the citation. 

In July 2015, Schneider received surgery for his left hip. He injured it while on the job at ACSO. By December of that year, Schneider — after receiving a medical professional’s opinion on the matter — decided to retire for “medical reasons,” according to a document in his personnel file. 

“My personal recommendation would be for (Schneider) to finish his career at a sedentary position to try and preserve his hip …” wrote Dr. Jovan Laskovski, an orthopedic surgeon, in a November 2015 letter. 

Records reflect that Schneider has been receiving a disability benefit from the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System since March 2016. Should Schneider be elected, he would be ineligible to keep receiving the OPERS benefit.

He’s confident his hip won’t prevent him from performing as a sheriff. 

“It’s an administrative position,” he said, adding the physical demands of being a sheriff is not equal to a deputy out on the road. He said he figured it would be unfair of him to continue working patrol at anything less than 100%.

“It’s not that I couldn’t do it — the bigger question is would you as a citizen want me to be doing that and potentially put you in harm’s way? So at that moment of time, that was the best decision,” Schneider said. 

Schneider serves as a special deputy at Hardin County Sheriff’s Office on an unpaid status. He’s held the position there since May 2020 to stay up to date with training and firearms proficiency, he said.

He currently works for Bensen Fire and Safety Consulting, a job he’s held since 2012. The company provides consultation services to insurers, attorneys, product manufacturers and people who want to “be better prepared for an emergency,” according to its website.

Campaign finance 

Schneider’s campaign treasurer is listed as his wife, Candice, according to records filed at the Ashland County Board of Elections. 

He raised a total of $18,180 in 2023, and used $26,000 of his own money, for a combined $44,180.

His largest expense in 2023 went to Olson Strategies, a firm based in Alexandria, Virginia that describes itself as “experts in political strategy, fundraising, and advertising.” Over four installments between September and December, Schneider paid the firm $13,800.

He’s also hired American Pulse, another firm out of Alexandria, Virginia, to conduct a survey. The expense totaled $7,500. Another $5,025 went to McShane LLC, a media strategy and political consulting firm out of Las Vegas, Nevada. 

When asked what prompted him to seek their services for this race, he said he wanted to hire professionals who know what they’re doing. 

“I have never been in politics, ever,” he said. “I have no idea how to run a campaign. These guys are professionals. They understand what needs to be done, how to do it and they know how to organize the campaign in a manner that is believed to be successful.” 

Noteworthy contributions include $300 from E. Wayne Risner, $1,000 from Keith and Peggy Boales and several other smaller contributions ranging from $5 to $1,100.