The 2022 primary election is nearly an entire year off but local resident Diane Sauter is not wasting any time in announcing her bid for public office in the coming year. A former law enforcement officer from Illinois, Sauter is now aiming for the position of top cop in Nye County and will be running for Nye County sheriff.
“I can tell you, I did not move here with the intention to run for sheriff,” Sauter told the Pahrump Valley Times this month. “My husband and I were full-time RVers, and we kept coming here and we would stay longer and longer each time, because we had met so many wonderful friends here. And it was some of my friends who have lived here for many, many years, who asked me to run for sheriff. Well, my question was, why would you want me to run? And they all agreed that they did not like what was happening here in Pahrump, things were changing, it was growing tremendously and they felt they needed someone in the sheriff’s position who has a stronger background and does not have ties with people here that they have concerns about.”
Sauter said she took some time to consider the idea, discussed it with her husband David and eventually decided to go for it, so for the past few months, she has been hard at work trying to get her name out there and learn as much as she can about the needs and desires of those who reside in the county.
Sauter had spent 20 years with various law enforcement agencies in Illinois. She started out as an undercover agent, working on sexual harassment cases, followed by illegal drug and even espionage cases. She eventually transitioned to the traffic division, where she had worked investigating fatal car crashes, a duty that she found quite difficult, particularly after having to investigate an accident in which a friend of her own teenage son’s had been killed. At that point, she felt it was time to move on from the traffic division and she was transferred to a gang unit.
“I know that we have a serious drug and alcohol issue here, I know we have a human trafficking issue here, I know that we have gang-bangers here,” Sauter said. “I spent 10 years working undercover and 10 years on the gang unit, so I have experience, I know the gangs so well that I can spot them easily.”
Sauter also spent time in her professional career as a business owner and as a loss prevention specialist for J.C. Penney, both positions that she held while simultaneously working in law enforcement. “I think that being the sheriff is going to be a lot of work and I thought about that, but hard work does not intimidate me. Heck, I was working for the sheriff’s department, running my paint ball park and working at J.C. Penney all at the same time!” Sauter exclaimed. “I just really care about this community and I want to be able to serve in the best way I know how.”
As for her areas of focus, Sauter said she is very concerned about addressing the teenage population.
“I have noticed there are a lot of things for us seniors to do and a lot of things for really young kids to do, but there is nothing for the teenagers to do here,” Sauter said. “It is a challenge and I am working with a young man who wrote a book in the 1990s called ‘Parents, Teens and Drugs’. His name is Billy James Nolen. He is a man full of so much information and we are working together on a program that we’d like to introduce to the state board of education that has to do with parents, teens, drugs and alcohol. And whether or not I become sheriff, I am going to see that through, because I care about the teenagers here.”
Sauter noted that during one of her recent public appearances, at the Pahrump Music Festival, she had spoken with local teens about this very problem and as a result of those conversations, she is hoping to start a group called Reach Out to give youth a place where they feel comfortable discussing difficult subjects that they often feel that they cannot talk about with the parents.
Training for those working in the Nye County Sheriff’s Office is another topic Sauter touched on, remarking that she would like to institute more rigorous training regimens.
“I see things that I was taught that I am not seeing here,” Sauter said. “Anything that goes wrong, that an officer does not do by protocol, by law, if they are not doing it the way they are supposed to be doing it, it’s because of lack of training and the responsibility for that falls to the sheriff, and the sheriff alone, because it comes from the top down. I am not talking about anything specific, but I have been approached by so many people who are concerned about these kinds of things. I believe in training, constant and consistent training.”
Sauter remarked that she is more than willing to keep in place any of the training programs that current sheriff Sharon Wehrly has instituted which are successful and noted that though she is running against Wehrly in the 2022 election, she has nothing against her personally and she respects her for the position she holds. “I have a lot of people ask me my opinion about Sharon and I don’t have one, because I don’t know her. But I have respect for her because she holds that badge. A true law enforcement officer has that respect for the office,” Sauter stated.
Sauter then moved on to speak about what is perhaps her biggest passion, protecting and defending the U.S. Constitution and the rights of the citizens of America.
“Most of all, and most importantly, I am and always will be a constitutional sheriff,” Sauter asserted. “I will uphold my oath to the U.S. Constitution and the Constitution of the State of Nevada. I will work hard to make this a constitutional county, along with Elko and Lander. I am a member of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association and I would like to see Nye County become a member as well.
“The people in these counties have had it with their unconstitutional dictates and ridiculous mandates,” Sauter continued. “I feel that government officials do not really protect the rights of their constituents. I believe in this great country of ours and most of all, I believe in the people and their ability to know what is best for them. Let’s stand and protect our Bill of Rights. It should be upheld in our jurisdictions to help protect our freedoms. Again, I will serve, protect, defend and live to uphold the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the freedom of liberty. Let’s make Nevada the first true constitutional state. When I do become the next constitutional sheriff, I will protect the citizens from all attacks, and protect the liberties of everyone. A warning to all who may try and undermine them: Not on my watch!”
For more information on Sauter visit www.sauter4sheriff.org or call her directly at 775-253-0784.
Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com
Author’s Note: This article was updated to reflect that Sauter worked for various law enforcement agencies in Illinios.