The race for Roanoke sheriff is ending the way it began – with allegations, questions and dripping with politics.

One of the questions is where Republican candidate James Creasy actually lives.

Meanwhile, two sheriff’s office employees shared their concerns about the current operations overseen by incumbent Sheriff Antonio Hash, a Democrat. 

Hash, lauded for his outreach efforts during his first term, is focusing on his community service as well as finding ways to hire qualified professionals to fill vacant sheriff’s office jobs. Hash opened the new downtown sheriff’s office Unified Reintegration Resource Center during a ceremony attended by dozens in July. He said he believes it will make a difference with reforming those who have been incarcerated as they return to society. A network of organizations will offer inmates training, mental health and other services in the building, eliminating the need for appointments and travel to various locations. 

Creasy, however, says the department needs a leadership change. He says the department needs a morale boost and he is telling voters he would prioritize increasing deputies’ presence in neighborhoods and downtown to make the community safer.

This year’s race includes a formal complaint Creasy filed against Hash, Creasy retiring from his sheriff’s office student resource officer job in the middle of the campaign, and Hash approving a sheriff’s office paid lease to open the new resource center in a building owned by a company that includes Republican City Councilman Nick Hagen.

And now there are more developments. 

Creasy’s filing

People have contacted The Roanoke Rambler in recent weeks, some who identified as Hash supporters, questioning the address Creasy used when filing to become a candidate. The issue: Does Creasy live in Roanoke or Roanoke County?

In April, Creasy listed a 17th Street Southeast Roanoke address on his filing forms, which The Rambler received through an open records request to the city registrar. That home is owned by Creasy’s parents, according to Creasy as well as city online real estate records.

Creasy’s wife, who is also his campaign treasurer, owns a home in Roanoke County. That address, located in a county subdivision, is listed on Creasy’s campaign finance filings with the state Department of Elections.

According to state law, candidates must take oaths that they are “qualified to vote for and hold the office” for which they are running. That means Creasy must live in the city of Roanoke – not the county – because he’s running for a city office.

Addresses must also match a candidate’s voter registration record, according to city Registrar Nicholas Ocampo. The 17th Street address used by Creasy does match his voter registration record as of February, Ocampo wrote in an email. In February, Creasy changed his address from the county to the city, according to Ocampo.

Creasy discussed the matter during an interview last week. He said his parents have moved out of the 17th Street home. During the campaign he said he’s been staying at the house on a schedule to meet election law.

“I’m doing the right thing,” he said.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Don Caldwell said Monday that he is aware of the issue but has not been formally asked to look into it.

“It’s swirling out there and I guess it will swirl” until the election,” he said.

The Rambler also asked for and received Hash’s campaign filing forms. His listed northeast Roanoke address is a home he owns, according to city online property records and the address does match his voter registration, according to Ocampo.

Concerns raised

Two sheriff’s office employees who said they plan to support Creasy met with The Rambler in late summer. They requested anonymity over fears of losing their jobs. 

During the interview they discussed their concerns about record keeping, staffing and political pressure. They are issues that Creasy has made part of his campaign. Whether the sheriff's office believes the issues are legitimate – or if they're being raised simply to try to get Creasy elected – it responded.

To start, the employees interviewed brought up the required reports that detail each shift worked by deputies on jail duty. The reports track each shift in 30-minute increments and detail interactions with inmates and other tasks. The employees said they are speculative about the frequent revisions of the reports. That creates a situation for deputies to feel pressured to make changes that may not reflect what occurred, the employees said they believe.

As part of that discussion, The Rambler received copies of some reports.

The Rambler emailed questions that came from the interview to Hash and the department’s Community Relations Specialist Tameka Paige – and Paige responded. Hash did not return a message left for him by The Rambler this week.

About the jail reports, Paige wrote: “It is important to understand that such entries may reflect a learning opportunity to act as a reminder to ensure that deputies consistently include all required details in their daily logs.”

The employees interviewed by The Rambler also said a lack of staffing can become an issue in the jail and that can stress those on duty to keep up, including filling out the required reports on a 30-minute cycle.

Paige wrote that the sheriff’s office “ensures that minimum staffing requirements are always met, and at no time is a deputy permitted to work a post alone.” The office’s top priority is maintaining the safety of employees, she wrote.

But, law enforcement staffing vacancies “are not an anomaly,” she wrote, adding that it’s a nationwide challenge to recruit and retain employees. Hash talked about that in an earlier interview with The Rambler, acknowledging the challenge and saying he was committed to try to fill more than a dozen positions then vacant.

One of the employees interviewed by The Rambler also shared an August text sent by a sheriff’s office administrator to department employees.

The text inquires about participation in a Hash re-election event.

“If you are willing and available to help out with this, please reply to this text letting me know, and if you would like one of the campaign effort t-shirts, include your size and I will get you on the list to receive one,” part of the text reads.

The employees interviewed by The Rambler said they felt the text put pressure on some employees who might not have wanted to take part.

The administrator who sent the text is not being named in this story because The Rambler was unable to reach that person for comment after leaving a message.

However, Paige responded.

She said the text went to employees outside of a group that had already expressed interest in the event. 

“The supervisor took it upon himself to coordinate with those individuals and, in attempting to ensure no one was overlooked, he included others,” she wrote. “Upon learning of the initial message he sent, it was immediately communicated to him that no one who had not previously expressed interest should continue to receive related emails or messages. This direction was given specifically to ensure that no employee felt pressured to participate, vote for, or assist with any ongoing efforts or activities.”

Looking back – and ahead

At the start of this year’s campaign in the spring, Creasy – who worked with Hash for years and said he helped Hash when he was elected in 2021 – filed a formal complaint against the incumbent sheriff. It alleged that Hash was improperly using his office by holding events – which include department employees – that are framed in service but are only for political promotion.

Hash dismissed that as an election year political tactic by Creasy. 

Caldwell, the commonwealth's attorney, looked into the matter and said this summer that at that point there was nothing to investigate further. On Monday, Caldwell reiterated that.

Sheriffs are required to abide by the Hatch Act, which protects employees from political coercion, and Hash has said he is aware of what’s allowed and what’s not.

In July, the sheriff’s office announced the opening of the new resource center. Days in advance of that, Hagen, the Republican councilman, abstained from a city council vote on funding for the center, announcing that he had a financial interest in the matter. Hagen and his parents own the building at 301 Campbell where the sheriff’s office now leases space for $3,125 a month.

At the time of the resource center's opening, Hash said he needed a building for the initiative and it mattered not to him who owns it. 

Hagen, the only elected Roanoke-centric Republican, has not publicly endorsed his party-mate Creasy. Hagen has said that decision has nothing to do with the lease deal with Hash on the Campbell Avenue building.

With all that’s happened in recent months, Hash and Creasy now look to next Tuesday’s election. Their latest finance filings, tracking their campaigns through Oct. 23, show Hash has raised $27,730 and Creasy $8,160, according to state Board of Elections reports.

Ocampo, the city registrar, wrote that 7,583 voters had cast ballots during early voting as of Tuesday morning. That’s 59% of the early votes cast during the 2024 presidential election, he wrote.

Early voting will continue through Saturday. Polls across the city will be open Nov. 4 from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.