Wilmot named to national sheriffs board
Several county sheriffs from Arizona have been named recently to fill some key roles at the state and national level, including Yuma County Sheriff Leon Wilmot, who was elected to a position he had previously been appointed to fill earlier this year.
The National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA) announced that its membership has elected Wilmot to serve on its board of directors.
“I am extremely honored to have been elected by my peers to sit on a prestigious national board such as the NSA,” Wilmot said recently. “It is a privilege to be able to represent not only the Arizona sheriffs, but all elected sheriffs throughout this country.”
He — along with three others — was appointed in January to fill vacant positions on the NSA board and will now begin his first full term as an elected member.
Wilmot is the immediate past president of the Arizona Sheriff’s Association, having served two terms (2015-2016), and is a former president of the Arizona County Attorney’s and Sheriff’s Association.
He is also a past vice president of the Arizona Sheriff’s Association, past treasurer of the Southwest Border Sheriff’s Coalition, and past secretary of the Southwest Border Sheriff’s Coalition.
Wilmot, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps, has been the sheriff of Yuma County since January 2013.
The NSA board of directors represents all 3,080 sheriffs across the country and sets guidance and direction for the association by working with the executive director and president to provide expert testimony on law enforcement issues, coordinate the association’s nonprofit activities and guide the educational foundation.
Other keys roles filled include Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb being selected by his peers to represent them on Gov. Doug Ducey’s Narcotics Crisis Panel. This panel was convened as the governor’s office works to address the opioid epidemic in Arizona.
Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels was named the new chairman of the Immigration and Border Security Committee at the recent National Sheriffs’ Association Conference in Reno, Nevada.
Finally Sheriff Paul Penzone from Maricopa County and Sheriff Mark Napier of Pima County were both added as members of the Major County Sheriffs of America (MCSA).