(ABC 6 News) — This November, two candidates will be on the ballot for the position of Cerro Gordo County Sheriff. 

David Hepperly and Brian Koob are both contending for the position being vacated by the retiring Sheriff Kevin Pals, who has led the department since 2001. 

Hepperly currently serves as Chief Deputy for the Cerro Gordo County Sheriff’s office and has been a sworn law enforcement officer since 1983, beginning his career at the Mason City Police Department. 

Said Hepperly, “I’d like to keep the department going on the same trajectory [as Sheriff Pals did] going forward, and build on some things within the department.” He adds, “If you have the trust of the public, then that carries over into the trust they have in you and they’d be more apt to reach out when they need help.” 

Kobb served on the same department; first as a jailer and then as a deputy sheriff, for seventeen years before joining the Iowa State Patrol’s vehicle enforcement division in 2022. 

“I would expect my deputies,” Kobb said, “…to be driving on gravel roads, being out in those areas, not just being inside of city limits in Mason City or Clear Lake, since they have their own departments. We do have some responsibilities inside of Mason City and Clear Lake; serving civil papers, court orders, those types of things. But when we’re not doing those, it’s my expectation that we are out in those areas of the county that we are responsible for. So the citizens see us.” 

The two will participate in a candidate forum (along with other county-wide candidates) sponsored by the League of Women Voters of North Iowa. That event will be held in the FEMA Room of the Mason City High School on Monday, October 7 at 6:30 p.m.