"Rocky" Goshert elected sheriff of Kosciusko County to replace Rovenstine
Kosciusko Co., IN -- Will “Rocky” Goshert was elected sheriff of Kosciusko County Wednesday night.
A caucus was held where 65 precinct committee members voted to replace Aaron Rovenstine, who left office when convicted of felony intimidation last month.
Goshert, who has been serving as interim sheriff, won the majority vote after five rounds of voting.
The final round was between him and Kyle Dukes, a state trooper.
Dukes advocated for a fresh start between the area police departments in the wake of Rovenstine’s controversy. Rovenstine was accused of intimidating a Warsaw Police officer.
“We have a problem with law enforcement in Kosciusko County. I don’t want to continue with the status quo it’s time we pick up the pieces, put them back together and we move forward,” said Dukes.
The committee, nearly split between the two until the end, represented the torn Kosciusko Community. Many of those who still support Rovenstine, also support Goshert.
He previously served two terms as sheriff and is close friends with Rovenstine. Goshert says Rovenstine asked him to run for sheriff.
“It sounds funny but I don’t take great joy of this because this came at a heavy price for a lot of people and its done a lot of damage to several families and a lot of this community because this came at a heavy price for a lot of people. I won, but, it was at a heavy cost that hurts,” said Goshert.
Many of those who showed up were officers from the sheriff’s department. Around 70 of them signed a letter to the committee in support of Goshert.
“I think the people of this county want to have a united sheriff’s department and I think that showed the people of the department believed in me and wanted me to continue,” said Goshert.
Goshert says he isn’t sure if he will run for the position in 2018. He has gone through sheriff school a couple times and hopes while he is sheriff the candidates will get a chance to prepare for the job and attend the training as well.