BY JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
After more than 40 years in law enforcement, Ellis County Sheriff Ed Harbin officially called it a career Monday.
Harbin, who was born and raised in Hays was first elected to the position of Ellis County Sheriff in 1996 and chose not to seek re-election in the fall. Undersheriff Scott Braun ran for the position unopposed and was elected in November. He was sworn in during a ceremony at the Ellis County Courthouse on Monday.
While at Fort Hays State University, Harbin was a marketing major and initially had no interest in working in law enforcement. He was working at Stereo West and said he was approached by a friend to join him as a member of the sheriff’s reserves.
After initially not wanting to join the reserves, Harbin, who went on to earn his marketing degree from FHSU, filled out an application and, at the end of 1976, began serving as a reserve.
The reserves assisted and rode along with officers on the road. Harbin said after a period of time they were allowed to drive the patrol cars, under the supervision of a trained officer. He said it was a good learning experience.
“You learned a lot,” Harbin said. “It kind of gets into your blood.
“Law enforcement is more than just arresting people, it’s a service organization,” he said. “I can think of several weekends dealing with people that things weren’t going good in their life and they came over to my house and we sat down at the kitchen table and talked or sat down on the porch or went over to their house and talked. It’s just more than arresting people.”
While still serving on the sheriff’s reserves, Harbin also got a part-time job filling in for the marshal in Victoria.
In August 1980, when the economic downturn forced Stereo West to close, Harbin went to work full time in the county jail.
After three years, Harbin went to the Law Enforcement Academy and obtained his certification and began working as the jail supervisor and on the road.
“Things were a lot different at that time,” Harbin said. “There were times I’d be working the jail, I’d get called to leave to go out to work an accident.”
Harbin began working on the road full time in 1993. He moved to sergeant before serving as undersheriff for two years starting in 1994. He was elected sheriff in 1996.
Harbin said when he first began working the jail, there was one inmate from out of county in the jail. The population has grown to sometimes as many as 80 before the pandemic forced several changes.
“One of the biggest things we had back then was people who wrote bad checks,” Harbin said.
He said the jail had the occasional driving under the influence arrests but the county began to see an increase in crime over time with the changes in society and the intersection of two major highways.
Harbin said as he looks back, things were a lot more calm in the beginning. He said it was, “almost like an Andy Griffith type thing.”
“You still had fights and you could go break them up,” Harbin said. "Tell those involved, 'You need to go home.'”
Equipment also changed dramatically in Harbin’s 40-plus years in the job.
“Back then it was a luxury, today it’s a necessity,” Harbin said.
Harbin said when they got the first in-car camera, they only got one because of the price. He said it was a very large unit that was stored in the truck and was air conditioned and heated.
The Ellis County Law Enforcement Center has also seen a great deal of change in Harbin’s 40-plus years.
He helped oversee the most recent jail expansion and remodel project. He said he still wishes the jail was bigger. The county is still housing some inmates out-of-county. He also expects a need for more expansion in the future.
Because of the pandemic, the majority of the inmates in the Ellis County jail currently are facing person-felonies. No inmates facing misdemeanor charges are currently being detained by Ellis County.
The jail also now has a food service contract with a company and a medical service.
The Ellis County Sheriff’s department now has a K-9 unit, a drug detective and they’ve also had a high-tech, computer crime investigator.
The laws also changed over time.
In the 1980s, DUI convictions came with mandatory jail time. With that came the videotaping of the sobriety tests and lawyers would view those interactions.
Harbin said domestic violence laws have changed, and added, “they needed to.”
“I remember I had a quite lively discussion with an individual one day that had been arrested (for domestic battery) that he thought his wife was his possession,” Harbin said. “Naturally, we disagreed.”
The acceptance of drugs has been a change in society that Harbin has seen over the years.
“Years ago, the drug dealer was the guy nobody liked,” Harbin said. “For whatever reason, they changed. Maybe this is like Prohibition. I don’t know.”
He said they saw the influx of marijuana and cocaine over time — and the use of needles.
“That’s the stuff you see in big cities,” Harbin said. “Then they went from using needles to carrying guns.”
Harbin said while they do have unpleasant encounters with people, not all of them are bad.
He said he was approached by a local drug user while pumping gas who thanked him for arresting him.
Harbin said the man told him law enforcement “saved his life” by arresting him. He told Harbin he was on a downward spiral, but that arrest helped turn his life around.
Harbin said he believes people's attitudes all revolve around how you treat them.
He said a county attorney once told him inmates were able to escape from the jail but didn’t do it while Harbin was on duty because of the way he treated them.
While events over the last year have put a strain on the relationship between the public and law enforcement, both Harbin and Braun say they just don’t see the animosity toward law enforcement here.
“Within the last year, I’ve had more coffee bought anonymously for me,” Braun said. “The amount of food that is brought to the law enforcement in Ellis County is overwhelming for people just showing their appreciation.”
Braun said he believes the people of Ellis County aren’t buying into the “chaos” and “don’t want it in their community.”
Harbin said the only time they encounter disrespect is from people outside of Ellis County.
Braun added communication is the key.
“If you spend 10 to 15 minutes talking to somebody, they’ll get in the car and almost drive you to the jail themselves,” Harbin said with a laugh.
Harbin’s courteous nature was instilled in him from an early age. He said they are always learning what works, but also it’s about being “genuine.”
Braun went a step further and said he believes Harbin has always, “been that person.”
“I think he was naturally a caring person. Although he’s received some training, he cares about the people. He’s fair to people, he treats them just and how he wants to be, and that’s who he is,” Braun said.
Braun said Harbin’s caring attitude can be seen all across the department and that, “he led by example.”
Harbin said he had an open-door policy that “let your employees have a little ownership.”
“Employees are your greatest asset,” Harbin said. “Luckily, we’ve had low turnover.”
Harbin said he remembers different encounters he has had with individuals throughout the county.
“You drive by certain places and you remember a fatality accident that was there or you go by a house you remember going by there to make a notification,” Harbin said.
He tells the story of a squirrel that was given to him by a man he helped who had an appreciation for squirrels.
Harbin said he had his, “five minutes of fame,” when he appeared on an episode of "America's Most Wanted" after the department helped catch a man wanted by law enforcement.
Being from Ellis County also allowed him to build a rapport with residents.
Harbin said he won’t miss the uncertainty of the job, especially in the current climate.
“In any profession, there are probably people that shouldn’t be in those professions, and we’ve probably seen a few people that shouldn’t have been in law enforcement,” Harbin said. “But I don’t think that the entire law enforcement community should be penalized because of one or a few do.
“I don’t think it’s fair to put these people at risk of losing everything they have because they did their job and somebody doesn’t like it,” he said.
Harbin said he will miss the people and worry about them.
As Harbin transitions into retirement, he said he’s not sure what all he will do but he has several ideas, all of which he will do as an engaged man after he got engaged last year.
He also plans to finish restoring his 1971 Camaro, set back up his wood shop and take a motorcycle trip on the backroads of Kansas.
Harbin has offered to assist Braun, who took over as sheriff on Monday, if he needs help transitioning into the new position.
Braun said he is grateful for the opportunity to serve as the undersheriff.
“What I’ve learned from Ed is to be humble, to be a good listener, to not jump to decisions (and) respect our employees and always give them a voice,” Braun said. “I think with that you can accomplish anything.”
Harbin said he believes that the office is in good hands.
“He kind of grew up in the department,” he said. “I have great admiration for Scott. I know he’ll do a good job."
Harbin is one of four people within the department who has retired in the last couple of weeks.
Harbin said he leaves office with one thing he wished they could have accomplished — solving the disappearance of Mary Lang.
Lang was working as a secretary for a local attorney when she disappeared from downtown Hays on Oct. 21, 1983.
Lang’s vehicle was found in the 200 block of East 12th Street. Several of her items were found days later under a bridge several miles northwest of Hays.
Harbin said they have been working the case, and they are following up on leads. He said he hopes they can, “find her and bring her home.”
Harbin said he wanted to thank all of the residents of Ellis County for allowing him to serve and added, “There were good days (and) there were bad days (and) there were days you wished you could have done something totally different.”