May 19—CADILLAC — Wexford County Sheriff Trent Taylor, who is running for re-election, says his office faces the same challenges other county sheriffs do, all across the state: Mental health needs that land people in jail, opioid mis-use, recruitment and retention of officers.

Most sheriffs of rural Michigan counties, however, don’t receive phone calls from CNN asking about one of their opponents.

“It’s a distraction,” Taylor, 56, said of attention the race attracted since Eric Molitor, previously acquitted of participating in a plot to kidnap the state’s governor, announced his candidacy.

“Seventy percent of people in our jail are here for new drug charges or for bond or parole violations for old drug charges,” Taylor said. “We have a mental health crisis and we need to figure out ways we can help.”

Taylor, over three decades, has climbed through the ranks from road patrol deputy and community policing officer to undercover narcotics, 911 director, undersheriff and was first elected sheriff in 2016, then re-elected in 2020.

Molitor and Taylor are running as Republicans and will square off in the primary election on Aug. 6; the winner will face Libertarian candidate Jake Bassett, 32, in the general election Nov. 5.

Molitor, 40, said he has a different view of the attention he’s brought to the race.

“It’s one of the things I’m super excited about,” Molitor said. “This is going to show people if this guy can do it, you can do it. I want to get people out there, running for these seats.”

Molitor, acquitted Sept. 15 of terrorism and weapons charges by an Antrim County jury, says he sought therapy for symptoms of the complex post-traumatic stress disorder he continues to experience following his arrest and the three-year court case.

Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office prosecuted 14 defendants in state and federal court, nine of whom accepted plea agreements or were found guilty of staking out Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Elk Rapids-area vacation home and plotting to kidnap her in advance of the November 2020 election.

Molitor in 2023 was tried with Michael Null and William Null in 13th Circuit Court, they pleaded not guilty and, after a monthlong trial, a jury acquitted the three men of all charges.

Molitor, who testified in his own defense, acknowledged he’d participated in firearms training and was on a drive from the Cadillac area to Elk Rapids, but was unaware of the plot.

“When I went up with Adam, I thought we were going up for good-guy stuff,” Molitor said, referencing Adam Fox, who prosecutors say is an anti-government extremist and one of the plot’s ringleaders. “I didn’t go into it with any criminal intent.”

Fox was later found guilty in federal court, a judge sentenced him to 16 years in prison for conspiracy and, in his ongoing appeal, Fox is arguing constitutional violations.

“The biggest thing I can bring to the office is my honesty and my integrity,” Molitor said. “Something I think I’ve shown throughout the three years of the hoax trial is I’m willing to stand against pretty big odds if I feel that I’m in the right.”

Molitor, who described himself as a vocal supporter of the Second Amendment, said stories in state and national media outlets stating he’s running solely to oppose red-flag laws failed to accurately state his political goals.

“If you want to boil it down, I’m running on less government intrusion on people,” Molitor said. “I don’t think police should treat the public as a piggy bank.”

Red-flag laws allow for a judge to order confiscation of a person’s firearms if officials believe the gun owner is a threat to themselves or others.

In Michigan, new red-flag laws, called Extreme Risk Protection Orders, went into effect in February and allow law enforcement, healthcare providers or family members to petition the court for a hearing where a judge makes a determination.

Molitor said his views on the sheriff’s office align with a growing constitutional sheriffs’ movement — adherents believe an elected sheriff’s authority supersedes that of state and federal officials — and, if elected, he wouldn’t enforce red-flag or any law he determined was unconstitutional.

Taylor said that could be problematic.

“I’m a Second Amendment supporter, I’m a gun owner, I don’t have any problem with armed citizens,” Taylor said. “But it’s in the constitution that I (as sheriff) serve all court orders.”

The word “sheriff” doesn’t appear in the U.S. Constitution, although it does appear six times in Michigan’s state constitution, which tasks counties with electing a sheriff to a four-year term, that the sheriff hold office “at the county seat” and “assure the people that he or she will uphold the duties of the office.”

Bassett, the Libertarian candidate, studied criminal justice, conducts CPL classes for beginning gun owners and works as a delivery driver for a regional building supplies company. He said he is not a supporter of red-flag laws, and believes they are an unlawful search and seizure which violates the Fourth Amendment.

The increased attention on the sheriff’s race Molitor’s candidacy has inspired is not an issue for Bassett, who says, “The media coverage of him is a great exercise of (candidates) becoming servants to the public from which they came.”

Bassett said he’d like to see the relationship between local law enforcement and the public return to what he called the “apple-pie good old days” when most policing was community policing, officers were more visible and emphasized public service.

“We’ve lost that good, old-fashioned relationship between law enforcement and the public,” Bassett said. “We can turn this around. There’s a lot of division in the country right now … we can change that.”

Improving law enforcement’s relationship with the community, ending qualified immunity for law enforcement officers and focusing on visibility and not secrecy of sheriff vehicles are priorities for Bassett, he said.

Red-flag laws became a talking point in the race after Molitor raised the issue on social media and in media interviews, although Taylor said there are a wide range of other issues facing Wexford County residents.

“I work with a board of commissioners that is very pro-public safety and, despite some issues with turnover, we have officers and staff here that are second to none,” Taylor said. “I have a good relationship with the community and I love serving Wexford County and the City of Cadillac from the bottom of my heart. I really do.”

Michigan currently has minimal requirements for county sheriff candidates beyond being duly elected by voters.

Sheriffs also must live in the area where they are seeking election and be qualified to vote, and while no law enforcement training or experience is required, that could soon change.

House Bill 4981, sponsored by Rep. Brian BeGole, R-Antrim Township, would require candidates for county sheriff to have at least five years of law enforcement experience.

BeGole served six years as sheriff in Shiawassee County and said in an online post he wasn’t trying to keep people from running for election, but law enforcement experience would give candidates a better handle on the varied responsibilities of the position.

Molitor and Bassett, neither of whom have this type of experience, said they do not support such a requirement; Taylor said he would support it.

“I understand it’s the people’s office,” Taylor said. “However, I am supportive of any type of increased requirements.”

“Education, experience and training make members of this field of endeavor more accountable, which will lead to better service,” Taylor said.