Meet Andy
Andy and Holly with their four children, Andy, Travis, Jessica and Allison.
A little background…
I was born in Harrisburg, PA on April 8th, 1948.My family moved to Bentonville shortly thereafter, and grew up in Benton County, Arkansas. My wife Holly and I will be celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary this May. During our marriage, we have raised four children, two boys, (both whom are currently detectives on the Bentonville and Fayetteville Police Departments), and two girls. They have grown up to be productive members of society and to this point have blessed us with twelve grandchildren.
I graduated from high school in 1967. Shortly after graduation, I left Bentonville to join the military. Due to severe burns that I incurred during a house fire when I was 16, I was denied eligibility to serve for the armed forces. It was after my fifth attempt to receive eligibility that I was advised to look into work in law enforcement. In 1969, I was sworn in as a police officer with the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C. Ten years later, I was retired from D.C. Metro with a “line of duty” injury. My family and I headed back home to Arkansas.
I went back to school and obtained a degree as an Associate in Criminal Justice. I took a position as Regional Supervisor for McDonald’s and ran five McDonald’s in Northwest Arkansas for about 5 years. In 1985 I was appointed to serve as a City Councilperson for the City of Bentonville. From there I went on to serve as the Director of the Bentonville/Bella Vista Chamber of Commerce for two years. In 1988, I was elected to the Office of Sheriff. I served as Sheriff for seven terms, retiring at the end of 2002.
During my 14 years as Sheriff, my administration achieved numerous milestones.
- Built - A new state of the art “Sheriff’s Office and Jail”.
- Started - The first “inmate work detail” programs.
- Created - The first “Airborne Division” in Benton County.
- Developed - The first time in Benton County’s history “24 hour patrol”.
- Implemented - The first “radio system” that could communicate with all law enforcement agencies.
- Honored- Our Veterans with “special medal ceremonies” and annual appreciation luncheon.
- Initiated - The first Beaver Lake “Lake Division”.
- Improved- The volunteer “Part Time Division”.
- Developed - The first “DWI Task Force” in Benton County and the State.
- Initiated - The first “Undercover Narcotics Division” in the Sheriff’s Office.
- Developed- The first “Special Response Unit”(SWAT) in the Sheriff’s Office.
- Created- The first “Honor Guard Unit” in the Sheriff’s Office.
Through the years as Sheriff, our “no frills“ jail developed a reputation among the criminal element as a jail where you did not want to be incarcerated. Our jail became known in criminal circles as “three colds and a cot“. While Sheriff, my administration fought the battles to bring the Benton County Sheriff’s Office and Jail from the antiquated 78 bed facility that set behind the Bentonville square to the state of the art Sheriff’s Office and Jail you see today on Highway 102.
Click here to see….. work history and experiences.
