New Lyon County Sheriff Brad Pope promises change: 'I believe in transparency and communication'

Newly elected Lyon County Sheriff Brad Pope said his focus as he is sworn into office Jan. 3 will be to reduce crime in the county and foster an improved relationship between the public and law enforcement by creating a less centralized structure within the sheriff’s office.

Pope also said he plans to increase patrols on area roadways like Highway 50 in Dayton and collaborate with the Nevada State Police to help ensure public safety on all roadways within the county.

His plan also includes adding deputies to patrol Silver Springs and Stagecoach, sparsely populated communities in the county that Pope described as being in a “law enforcement vacuum.”

Pope, who promised during his campaign to improve the sheriff’s office by changing the command structure, defeated Frank Hunewill in last month’s mid-term elections by a margin of 400 votes.

Pope earned 7,576 votes to defeat incumbent Hunewill who received 7,176 votes.

“I am honored to have been elected Lyon County Sheriff,” Pope said. "I look forward to serving the citizens of Lyon County and fostering a strong relationship between the sheriff’s office and our communities. I will work diligently to improve public safety in Lyon County, and ultimately improve the quality of life for the people who call Lyon County home.”

The new sheriff promises to return to mission-oriented policing, which Pope described as having clear guidelines provided to staff including deputies on patrol throughout the county and staff at the detention facility in Yerington.

He said his plans to help lower the crime rate in Lyon County include using focused patrols in the county’s communities, improving intelligence gathering by deputies, and targeting criminals that sell illegal narcotics in county neighborhoods.

Once in office, Pope said, he will work swiftly to decentralize the sheriff’s office from its base in Yerington by bringing deputies to Stagecoach and Silver Springs.

He also stated that the command staff in place now will be replaced. Pope said he believes the current leaders are retiring.

The command structure will be changed so that it is dispersed throughout the county instead of being based solely in Yerington, he said.

Pope elaborated that since each community in the county has its own individual needs and demands, the sheriff’s office must make changes in order to be responsive to the needs and demands within each community.

“Currently administrative staff is present in a single hallway in Yerington; the command staff will be positioned throughout Lyon County now,” Pope said.

A decentralized command structure is common with law enforcement in general and in Northern Nevada, Pope said, and that the process will enable leaders in the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office to make decisions tailored to their communities and mission.

“We are unique due to our geography,” Pope said. “It’s exaggerated in Lyon County.”

With an area exceeding 2,000 square-miles, Lyon County has seen its population swell by nearly 17 percent from 2010 to present. The county is home to many communities including Silver Springs, Stagecoach and Mound House, and more populated areas such as Dayton.

The community, which had a population of about 9,000 in 1990, now has an estimated population of more than 16,000. Dayton grew at a rate exceeding 8 percent from 2020 to present.

Dayton was the county seat from 1861 until it was relocated to Yerington in 1911, according to the Historical Society of Dayton Valley.

Fernley currently has an estimated population of 24,000, and has grown rapidly during the last decade. The community grew at a rate of over 3 percent from the 2020 census to now.

In contrast, Yerington has an estimated population of 3,100 and has seen negative population growth in recent years. The population decreased by nearly 2 percent since the 2020 census.

On his Facebook page, Pope explained his strategy to improve the responsiveness of the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office in a post which stated that decentralizing the sheriff’s office will enable the new area commanders to run their substation as their own “police department” in their respective areas.

This new structure, he said, will enable the commander to make decisions based on the needs of the community they lead and will comply with policies and procedures of the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office.

Other tasks Pope plans for the sheriff’s office include improving traffic safety by creating a traffic safety and enforcement team to help reduce fatal accidents and deal with an increasing number of traffic violations happening on area roadways, including Highway 50.

“Lyon County has the third highest fatal accidents (rate) in the state of Nevada,” Pope said.

Pope also said he will work to reduce staff turnover within the sheriff’s office and he promises to continue dialogue with the public on social media.

He also promised to uphold the Second Amendment as part of his oath of office in becoming sheriff.

“I will continue to post my 'message of the week' on my Facebook page as well as keep the community informed on the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office official social media pages,” Pope said.

“I believe in transparency and communication and I am looking forward to improving both."

Pope is a native of southern Nevada and worked as a corrections officer at Ely State Prison prior to relocating to northern Nevada.

He has worked for the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office in various roles since moving to the northern part of the Silver State.

Pope became a deputy sheriff patrolling Mason Valley in 2005.

He beat Hunewill, who was elected to the office in 2018. Hunewill had a long career with the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office, but was under scrutiny prior to last month’s election after questions over his residency were raised by the Nevada Globe.

The Globe alleged that Hunewill was actually a resident of Topaz, Calif. and served as the manager of the Topaz Resort. Witnesses told the Globe that Hunewill commuted to Lyon County from Topaz each day, and had used county funds on more than one occasion to pay for gas in Topaz during this commute.