Lee wants to help clean up county as sheriff

Tuesday, 14 February 2012 by Matthew Girard

Keith LeeRepublican Bell County Sheriff candidate Keith Lee wants to help clean up Bell County and to protect and serve its citizens.

"I intend to go after the violent criminals and leave the good people of Bell County alone," Lee said in an interview at the Belton Journal last week. "I'll go after the gangbangers, the meth labs, the crack houses, the drive-by shooters and the thugs that hang out in certain parts of Bell County. I intend to clean all that up by working with the local police chiefs."

Lee came to Texas in 1985 and has been in the Central Texas since 1995 after spending time studying Criminal Justice at Louisiana State University, serving in the Marine Corps and as a Navy Seabee.

"I went to college at LSU and was with the campus police and I studied Criminal Justice before it was called Criminal Justice," Lee said. "During that time I worked a lot of security at union strikes and things like that.

"I served in the Marine Corps as a scout sniper and before I left, I was an instructor at the sniper school. I also served in the Navy Seabees. I also re-enlisted for Operation Desert Storm and deployed to the Persian Gulf."

Since coming to the area, Lee has worked as a developer and has built and renovated several homes in the area.

According to his Facebook page, Lee's platforms include cleaning up methamphetamine labs, helping officers become more "citizen friendly" and to cut down on ticket writing for the purpose of raising funds.

"If I become Sheriff of Bell County, I have no intentions of turning the dogs loose on the good people of Bell County," Lee said. "I think the best thing we can do to increase money into Bell County is to encourage growth.

"If we encourage growth, rather than run people off by writing them a ticket every time they come to town, then I think that will put more money in the coffers and create a decrease in individual tax burden where we pay a smaller piece of a much bigger pie."

Lee said he wants officers to "simply do their jobs."

"I think that the police are here to protect and serve and not to be looking for ways to make money," Lee said. "We should let the chiefs of police and the city council worry about bringing money in and let the police do their job. They are not legislatures and they are not lawyers, they just need to enforce the law."

As a local businessman, Lee said he knows what Bell County needs from a sheriff.

"We've had politicians in the Sheriff's office for a long time," Lee said. "For what I want to do for Bell County, it's going to take a bulldog. The other candidates might be good politicians, but I'm a bulldog. I go after everything just like I did in the Marine Corps.

"I know what it takes to root out the bad men and I know what's needed for Bell County."

Despite a report that Lee might be ineligible to serve as sheriff because of a court action that precluded him from becoming a certified law enforcement office (a requirement by the State of Texas for holding office), he said he is in discussions with a lawyer to become a certified law enforcement officer.

"It's a matter of paperwork," Lee said. "I'm still the same bulldog that wants to shut down the meth labs and do what's right for the people of Bell County."

For more information about Republican Bell County Sheriff candidate Keith Lee, visit his Facebook page or email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

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