Ex-Falls County sheriff Ben Kirk returns as chief deputy
Falls County Sheriff Joe Lopez and former Falls County Sheriff Ben Kirk both started their lengthy law enforcement careers in the mid-1970s as dispatchers in Falls County.
Now the veteran lawmen are teaming up again after Lopez, who worked as a deputy when Kirk was sheriff, convinced Kirk to come out of retirement to be his chief deputy.
Lopez, 67, a Democrat, took office in January after defeating embattled former Sheriff Ricky Scaman, a Republican, in November. One of the first things on his agenda, Lopez, said, was to see if he could persuade Kirk to bring his 45 years worth of law enforcement experience and come to work for him.
“I feel totally blessed on this deal,” Lopez said. “I asked him if he could come back and help me out. It was in my plans all along. When I got elected, he was the first priority I wanted to go after. We are both homegrown and have known each other a long time.”
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Scaman lost his bid for a second term to Lopez, running for re-election while under felony indictment and with a suspended peace officer’s license. Kirk also defeated Scaman in Scaman’s first bid for sheriff in 2012.
Scaman, who remains free on bail, was named in a five-count indictment last year that charges him with sexual assault, assault on a public servant and official oppression of two women, allegations investigated by the Texas Rangers and prosecuted by the state attorney general’s office.
Read more: https://wacotrib.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/ex-falls-county-sheriff-ben-kirk-returns-as-chief-deputy/article_ba40185c-64b7-11eb-8716-bf36088b2155.html
(Waco Tribune-Herald)
