Montgomery County’s next sheriff will be the man selected to lead the office earlier this year or a police veteran who comes from a law enforcement family.
The race between Republican Robert Page, the interim sheriff, and Democrat Tim Brown, a Christiansburg police lieutenant, was set earlier this summer after they secured their competitive party nominations. Voters will now decide which one will run the largest law enforcement agency in the New River Valley. The department has 141 sworn deputies and six civilian staff across five divisions, according to Capt. Mark Hollandsworth of the support services division.
Page was named sheriff in the spring, the choice of Sheriff Hank Partin, a Republican, who retired after 10 years in the job. The county has had a Republican sheriff since Partin began his first term in 2016. Before him, Democrat Tommy Whitt served for 12 years before retiring in 2015.
Partin could not be reached for comment for this story. But in a letter Page shared recently on social media, Partin said he did not take the decision lightly on who to name as interim sheriff. He wrote that Page, since April, proved the decision was the right one.
Page “understands the importance of strong partnerships, supporting our deputies, adapting to the challenges facing law enforcement and never losing sight of the citizens we serve,” Partin wrote.
Page said that his prior 13 years of working in several divisions of the sheriff’s department have prepared him to keep the county “a safe place to live, work, go to school and raise a family.”
“My heart is with this office and keeping it one of the most highly respected sheriff’s offices in the state,” Page said about why voters should consider him.
Brown said his 26 years of law-enforcement experience differentiates him from his opponent, will help increase transparency, and will bring the department to a nationally recognized standard.
Flock Safety
One of Page’s most recent consequential decisions came earlier this month, when he announced the department would discontinue the use of Flock Safety automated license plate reader cameras — a decision he said was made after conducting a review of the technology that included input from the community.
“The reason I paused it was not only because of the public perception of it,” Page said, “but because it needs more federal regulations and more state regulations and more safeguards in place.”
The use of the technology has spread nationwide as a tool for law enforcement to investigate crimes. But concerns among communities about mass surveillance and lack of proper regulations have spread as well.
“I think sometimes law enforcement, you know, we get stuck at looking through a certain lens,” Brown said about his initial views on the Flock cameras, seeing them as effective technology that could help solve more crimes.
But he said his opinion changed early on the campaign trail, saying, “If you’re really gonna be a sheriff that works for the people, you have to listen.”
Personnel, promotions and legacy
Page said another of his priorities is the welfare of his officers, an effort he plans to tackle differently from his predecessor. “Hank did a great job of taking care of the deputies, but I want to focus even more on that,” Page said.
The department has an established partnership with the Virginia Law Enforcement Assistance Program, or LEAP, a nonprofit organization created after the Virginia Tech shooting in 2008 that provides psychological and emotional trauma support to law enforcement officers.
Page said he is also working to formalize a care plan that meets the needs of officers experiencing unique levels of trauma. “A healthy deputy is going to better serve this community and take care of our citizens,” he said.
Brown said he wants to see a change in the department’s promotional process, expanding testing for not just for the sergeant position but for officer roles as well.
“I ain’t the sharpest tool in the toolshed, but I’m sharp enough to know I need good people around me,” he said. “And I’m going to put the people in a job that are the best qualified.”
Page’s qualifications for the role were questioned by one of his opponents for the GOP nomination.
Sheriff’s office Lt. Tim Shepherd said Partin passed on 29 ranked individuals before promoting Page as interim sheriff. Shepherd said that Page’s previous promotion to co-chief deputy came just 28 days prior to heading the department.
Shepherd has since endorsed Brown, a decision that he said got him kicked out of the Republican Party.
“I strongly lean Republican as far as my values, but at the end of the day, I’m going to endorse or push for the man who I think is most qualified for the job,” Shepherd said.
Page did not respond to an attempt to get his response to Shepherd’s claim.
Disappointed in Shepherd’s decision not to endorse Page after the primaries, Montgomery County GOP Chairman Nic Lauer said that Page has continuously demonstrated his qualifications for the role.
“At this point, it’s a moot point. Page has been a leader all summer, and he’s demonstrated great leadership qualities and taking over the office and administering it,” Lauer said.
Lauer added that the amount of academic degrees Brown has does not make him more qualified than Page, citing his experience working across different divisions, including jail, civil and warrants.
“So, basically [Page] did all the components of the office and knows it well and has more experience at the sheriff’s office than our opponent, who only has experience at the Christiansburg Police Department.”
Tim Brown’s father — Bill Brown — became the first African American police officer in the New River Valley in 1970, according to the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police and Foundation. Before his passing in 2025, Bill Brown served as Blacksburg police chief from 1994 to 2006 and was a member of the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors from 2008 to 2015, serving as chair of the board from 2014 to 2015.
Tim Brown said he recognizes the impact of his father’s work and his commitment to the badge. “He did a lot for the community, and a lot of times, we didn’t see my dad growing up,” he said.
That commitment has influenced the kind of leader he plans to be if elected. “’You always gotta look at the big picture, and you gotta ask people, why? Or, slow down and not think everything is black and white, because it’s not,’” Brown said his father once told him.
In recognition of this potential historic moment, county Democratic Committee Chairwoman Jenni Gallagher said, “I feel very good about Tim’s campaign and am excited for Montgomery County to have its first Black sheriff.”
Since 1993, the sheriff’s department has been accredited by the Virginia Law Enforcement Professional Standards Commission, and as a master assessor for state accreditation. Tim Brown said he aims to carry the department toward national accreditation.
“It is to raise the bar, to put more standards in place. Blacksburg Police Department is nationally accredited,” Brown said. “Virginia Tech police department is nationally credited. Radford City just got their national accreditation.”
That would be awarded by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies. This process could take up to three years, Brown said.
Immigration enforcement
The role local police departments play in federal immigration enforcement has become a key issue for voters nationwide following the Trump administration’s overhaul of immigration and border policies.
“I will work with any federal government agency to keep this county safe,” Page said when asked about the department’s relationship with the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, or ICE.
Page said that the department’s only involvement with ICE recently has been honoring detainers for individuals held in the county jail that ICE seeks to take into federal custody.
The county has not signed the federal agreement that authorizes the federal agency to deputize local and state police to assist in detention enforcement — an agreement that Brown said he would not sign if elected.
“That doesn’t line with the missions and goals I have for the sheriff’s office. ICE has their job, and we have our job. So I’m not in favor of signing an agreement that handcuffs me as a sheriff,” Brown said, adding that he would publicly notify the community if ICE was present in the county pursuing who they identify as a dangerous individual.
With less than two weeks until the election, both candidates are making their presence felt through campaign signs along roadsides and outside homes, scheduled community events and door-to-door visits to connect with voters.
“The people inside of this county are what matters, and the people inside of this office are what matter. That’s why my priority is to take care of them so they can better take care of all of the citizens,” Page said.
“The public needs to know what’s going on in their community, and they also need to know that, overwhelmingly, they have a say-so on what’s going on in their community and how they’re being policed,” Brown said.
Early voting is underway and ends on Saturday. Election Day is Nov. 3.
Read answers from these candidates and hundreds of others to a range of issues questions in the Cardinal News voter guide.
