[BBell]

We had a Parish election where a local police chief defeated a 20+ year incumbent sheriff. The deputies where nervous and once the new sheriff took over there were some fireworks. Captains on down. The smart deputies left before they could be fired by the "new" sheriff in town.

I don't know how things work in South Dakota.

[morphing libertarian]

Sheriff’s have a lot of power and it’s only checked by voters.

[MrEdd]

From the sound of things, everyone on the department probably voted for the deputy in this case.