KEY POSITIONS

“Beyond his professional attributes, Morgan embodies the qualities of a true leader. I know Morgan as an accountable man, approachable, intelligent, and is relentlessly motivated to effect positive change.”

— Todd Peck, Assistant Chief of Police, Hailey Police Department

As Blaine County Sheriff, Morgan will bring the same energy and dedication to collaboration throughout the valley as he has in his many roles in the military and law enforcement. Morgan will continue to build on and invest in new relationships in order to foster positive change. Having stepped into high level command positions in the past, Morgan understands the balance of influencing growth while not disrupting systems that are working well. 

Morgan is committed to being a visible and accessible leader. As Sheriff, he will be ‘present’ in the community and work to build and strengthen relationships throughout the community.

Interagency Collaboration

Currently, the local law enforcement offices don’t collaborate as well as they should. This results in them often working in silos, which leads to increased response times, delayed investigations and poor communication. As Sheriff, I will deputize officers of Sun Valley Police Department, Hailey Police Department, and Bellevue Marshal’s Office by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with each of these departments. This MOU will allow increase interagency collaboration and response times to calls for service.

Narcotics Enforcement & Sexual Exploitation of Minors

Morgan will create a Blaine County Joint Narcotics & Child Exploitation Task Force incorporating officers from the Sun Valley Police Department, Hailey Police Department, and Bellevue Marshal’s Office. It is well known that child sexual predators disguise themselves as drug dealers. These individuals will trade drugs, specifically marijuana, with young teenage girls in exchange for sex acts. Creating a Blaine County Joint Narcotics & Child Exploitation Task Force will increase information sharing among local agencies, increase the ability of the Narcotics Enforcement Team (NET), increase public safety, and increase officer safety. The introduction of these new assets will increase the NET’s ability to investigate child sexual exploitation crimes connected to drug trafficking.

School Resource Officers

Morgan is committed to installing a School Resource Officer (SRO) in Carey School and Ernest Hemingway STEAM School. This has been a request from Carey and Ketchum residents for several years.. SROs will still be available for calls in their respective areas. Assigning SROs to these schools will increase school safety, increase response time, and increase services to these municipalities.  These positions will be funded by a combination of state and federal grants, which will supplement current Deputy salaries or pay for the positions in full.

Deputy Recruitment & Retention

Like all industries in Blaine County, recruitment and retention is a challenge for the Blaine County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO). Morgan will exploit every opportunity to recruit and retain Deputies. This will include examining current policies which prevent BCSO employee’s from living outside of the County. Morgan understands BCSO must set short-term and long-term recruiting goals. Ballis will look to collaborate with other law enforcement agencies in the valley to establish a Law Enforcement Explorer program looking to our current student population to be our future law enforcement leaders. As a Marine Corps veteran, Ballis understands the value of military veterans to any law enforcement agency. Morgan has created a plan to aggressively recruit military veterans to the BCSO.

Newcomer Driving Program & Suicide Prevention

Ballis will continue to proactively seek input from community members and leaders looking for innovative solutions to increase trust in law enforcement and decrease crime. These partnerships will include working with local non-profits, such as The Hunger Coalition and The Alliance of Idaho, to educate new families on traffic laws and safe driving behavior. This will decrease traffic violations, decrease traffic collisions, and increase the availability of Sheriff Deputies to focus on high-level crimes. Additionally, Morgan will continue to work with the 5B Suicide Prevention Alliance, The Advocates, St. Luke’s and other community partners on their Preventing Access to Lethal Means (PALM) campaign. By working from within 2nd Amendment community, we will increase suicide awareness and decrease deaths by suicide.

Coffee with Cops

Morgan will hold monthly “Coffee with Cops” events across Blaine County. These events will be hosted at local venues giving the public direct access to the Sheriff and other law enforcement leaders. These informal conversations will provide an opportunity for community members to ask questions, provide recommendations, and rebuild trust in the Sheriff through direct engagement.

Volunteer & Connect

Learn more about volunteer opportunities, how to get a yard sign, or connect with Morgan Ballis directly.

Email
morgan4bcsheriff@gmail.com

Phone
(208) 721-5516