Nye County Sheriff Joe McGill reelection

Incumbent Sheriff Joe McGill is running for reelection in hopes of serving another four years as the top law enforcement officer of Nye County.

“The community is very happy with the changes that have been made over the last almost three years, but there’s still more ground that we need to cover,” Sheriff McGill told the Pahrump Valley Times. “There’s more improvements to be made with our staffing, with the services that we provide, and how we go about doing what we do on a day-to-day basis. I want to continue and keep making more improvements for our communities.”

Sheriff McGill officially announced his bid for reelection in Pahrump at an event on Sunday, Sept. 14, at Artesian Cellars.

“It went real well,” he enthused. “We had about 60 people there. It was a good showing, and everybody was really supportive.”

McGill previously served as a Nye County deputy and before that had a 26-year-long career at the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. He was elected as Nye County sheriff in 2022 after defeating incumbent Sharon Wehrly.

A community-first approach

McGill cited a strong community presence and care as an important aspect of addressing concerns around crime. The sheriff said this is an improvement he made in his first term and hopes to build upon this in his reelection campaign.

“In law enforcement, we cannot afford to be complacent because if we do, then crime takes over,” he detailed. “So, we’re getting our deputies out there on the street. The community is noticing the fact that they’re seeing the deputies more. The deputies are more approachable. They’re easier to talk to and they don’t have this us-versus-them attitude that oftentimes comes with our job.”

McGill added that the department has increased the number of staff that live in Nye County rather than Clark County.

“When you have somebody who lives in that community, they get out and they care, and they know the people and the people know that deputy,” McGill stated.

A sheriff for all of Nye County

McGill emphasized that he is the sheriff for not only Pahrump, but all of Nye County. He acknowledged the significance of reaching out to voters in northern Nye County communities like Tonopah, Beatty, and Round Mountain during his reelection campaign.

“There’s always been a division between the northern communities of Nye County and the southern. I don’t like that division or that feeling of division or perception because it’s not true,” McGill said.

He continued that while the majority of his work draws him to Pahrump because it is the most populous town, he tries to be in northern Nye County as much as possible.

“The northern communities are important. They’re just as important as the south,” Sheriff McGill asserted.

Focal points of reelection campaign

Sheriff McGill noted that addressing the concerns around homelessness is a major subject he wants to tackle during this reelection campaign.

“I was able to write and present to the county commission an ordinance addressing the homeless problems that we have in the community. And that is going very well,” he detailed. “And there’s another ordinance coming up real soon to the commission that is going to address the homeless problems in the parks that has been such a major issue lately.”

Another topic McGill wants to focus on during his reelection is staff increases. He said staffing is stronger in all of Nye County communities than it has been since he joined the department. He wants to continue this growth going into his reelection campaign.

“I want to increase our staffing in all the specialized sections of the department,” the sheriff stated. “But we are going in the right direction. We are increasing our staffing all the time and always working on doing that even more.”

Contact reporter Elijah Dulay at edulay@pvtimes.com