BEND, OR -- The Deschutes County Sheriff's Office has its first undersheriff in almost 20 years. "I've had three Division Commanders that report directly to me," Sheriff Shane Nelson told KBND News this week, "The last time we had an Undersheriff was actually our previous Sheriff, Undersheriff Larry Blanton, before he was appointed to be Sheriff."

Sheriff Nelson promoted Captain Paul Garrison (pictured, right) to Undersheriff last week. "He's got 29 years of experience in law enforcement, came to the Sheriff's office in the mid- to late-90s, and has most recently been commanding the Detective Division."

Nelson says Garrison's main job will be to oversee the transition of power when a new Sheriff is elected in November, "It requires some state mandates to hand over the prisoners, double check evidence and transfer monies. So there's a process to that. And, the other reason I wanted to have an undersheriff was to deal with any election-related issues." He adds, "It could be anything involving concerns or complaints or other investigations that might be related to the election."

Deschutes County hasn't had a Sheriff's election without an incumbent in more than two decades. Nelson acknowledges the campaign to determine his replacement has been difficult on the agency, especially since both candidates currently work for DCSO, "It can create and be divisive for some of our teammates that are working in the office, and I always want to be transparent. This was an excellent way to have an individual who was unbiased in the election-support issue to deal with election-related issues."