01
Open the books on the jail
Publish a plain monthly jail report: population, average daily population, medical spend, overtime, transport cost. Right now nobody can tell you what the jail costs. Fixing that costs nothing but discipline.
Conservative Write-In · Marion County
Three generations ofhonorable serviceto this county.
My grandfather was one of Marion County's early deputies. My father gave nearly thirty years to this work at Centralia PD, the Southern Illinois Drug Task Force, and a statewide investigative agency. I came home from twelve and a half years in the Army and served at the village, city, state, and federal level. I am a Conservative, and I am running by write-in, because this office should be decided by the voters. I am running on what needs fixed in a broken system, for the people it has left disenfranchised.
I am asking for your vote to lead the Sheriff's Office and represent the citizens of Marion County as their Sheriff.
Army Airborne Ranger
Combat Veteran · Iraq & Afghanistan
Illinois Sworn Investigator
County Board, District 4
Official Ballot · Sample
Sheriff of Marion County
The one printed candidateleave this oval blank
Cody Rose
Both steps or it does not count. Write Cody Rose on the write-in line and fill in the oval beside it. A name with an empty oval is not counted. See the full instructions →
A word from Cody
I am fighting for your right to vote for your Sheriff, and I am asking for your help in becoming your next Sheriff.
It is true that I did not wake up on August 20th, 2026 and decide that I wanted to be Sheriff. What I wanted was a fair process: the most important office in this county decided by the voters, in the most transparent way possible.
That was not possible.
I want to be Sheriff because there are a lot of issues in this county right now affecting the relationship between law enforcement and the public. I have experience from many different areas in law enforcement, and a mastery level of exposure in organizational leadership. I can use those to bring new perspectives to the Sheriff's Office, help change things toward a brighter future, and fix some of the distrust that is growing in this community.
I am currently on a leave of absence, no pay and no benefits, so the people can have a choice of who they want to be Sheriff. If I did not want to be Sheriff, I can promise you I would not have turned off my income and my benefits to do what is right.
This is not about the people involved in this race. It is about the people who believe they can do what they want with no regard for what the citizens of this county want. The only way to stop that from happening over and over again is for the voters to educate themselves, connect the dots to what is actually there, and show up to vote in numbers they never expected.
This is the home my six children are growing up in, and we have to fix what is broken and make things better for the next generation, or they have nothing to fight for.
So I am asking you directly, without anyone standing between us: write me in for Sheriff on November 3rd, 2026.
This campaign refused to take part in a broken nomination process. It has something better: you.
Your voice, your vote, is what the American Dream depends on. When it is treated with no regard and no respect, then every American value we hold is in jeopardy of being lost.
I will be your voice. I will be your gladiator. But I cannot win without your vote.
Cody Rose
Conservative write-in candidate for Sheriff · Marion County, Illinois
Why a write-in
A Conservative, asking you directly.
I am a Conservative. I am running by write-in because the most important office in this county should be settled by the voters who live under it. A write-in run means the decision comes back to you. You are not handed a choice, you make one.
It also means the campaign has one job above all others: making sure every person who wants to vote for me knows exactly how. That is why the instructions come before the biography on this site.
Write the name
On the line marked for write-in candidates under Sheriff, print Cody Rose. Spelling variations of a clearly identifiable name are generally accepted; print it plainly.
Fill in the oval
Darken the oval, box, or arrow next to the line you just wrote on. This is the step people miss, and it is the step that invalidates the vote.
Tell three people
Write-in campaigns are won household by household. If you tell three neighbors both steps, you have done more than a yard sign.
The record
Over twenty years in uniform. Two years reading this county's bills.
I am a sworn Illinois investigator with statewide jurisdiction, assigned to the Illinois Statewide Investigative Task Force. I have carried federal credentials on two task forces, working violent crime and gang cases, and I have been an assistant team leader on two tactical teams.
Since December 2024 I have sat on the Marion County Board for District 4, on the Law Enforcement Committee and as the board's liaison to the EMA. That is the seat that reads the Sheriff's bills every single month. I am not guessing about what this office costs or what it needs.
I am the third generation of my family to wear a badge in this county. This is where I come from, not a place I moved to for a job.
Cody Rose
By the numbers
What the public record shows.
38.48%
Sheriff and jail share of county spending
Jail 23.67% plus patrol 14.81%. Revenue / Expense Department Totals, July 2026.
408
Sheriff offenses reported, 2025
ORI IL0610000. Essentially flat across five years: 379 / 461 / 370 / 340 / 408.
160
Thefts from motor vehicles, 2025
Up from 41 in 2023. The one trend that is genuinely rising.
Sources: Marion County Revenue/Expense Department Totals (July 2026); Illinois Uniform Crime Reporting public portal, 2021 to 2025.
Where I stand
A Conservative who can show you the receipts.
The taxpayer first
The county set aside $750,000 for its assessment problem. I built the system and gathered the data first. The fix still has not happened, but when it does it should cost far less than that. I also built the county's emergency management system at mcema.us and donated it outright.
Rights are not negotiable
A Sheriff swears an oath to a Constitution, not to a mood. Over twenty years in, I have not read it selectively yet.
Back the ones who answer
Still doing the job today, and endorsed by the working officers of Illinois FOP Lodge 95.
The platform
Nine things I will actually do.
No promises of deputies I cannot fund. Six of these are items the county's own records already point at. One is a rule I want in writing before it is needed, and one is how we fill the empty shifts that overtime is actually paying for. The last is the jail itself, where the state's own inspectors keep finding the same failures.
02
Finish the capital list already on record
Cameras, jail and office floors, transport vans. These went in front of the board in April in the Sheriff's own department report. Cameras in a jail are evidence. Finish them, with a written condition-and-priority list.
03
Target the trend that is real
Theft from motor vehicles is up roughly four times since 2023. Directed patrol on the hours and townships where it happens, plus a plain public push on locked vehicles and removed firearms.
04
Fix the county's reporting holes
Some municipal agencies stopped reporting to the state entirely. You cannot deploy against data you do not have, and you cannot win grants without it. The county's largest agency should be convening the chiefs to close the gaps.
05
Bring in outside money, not county money
I have already built federal grant capability: a UEI, an active SAM registration, and GATA registration. The alternative to raising the Sheriff's budget share is money that is not the county's.
06
Answer the phone
Response time in the outer townships is the actual complaint, and so is being told a real problem is a civil issue. Every complaint gets a report number, a named deputy, and a call back. Response times published by township.
07
Take down the county's Flock cameras
I will call for the removal of every county-owned Flock camera, with no added contract fees. They return only if voters approve them. Until they come down, every search is tied to a case number, audited by someone who did not run it, and kept off a vendor sharing default nobody here voted on.
08
Recruit veterans and their families
Overtime is unfilled slots paid at time and a half. New state law lets a qualifying veteran test early and go straight onto the eligibility list. Recruit at military transition programs and bring those families here: trained workforce, more residents, wider tax base.
09
Fix the jail
The state's inspectors failed the jail's 30-minute check rule five years running and found the commissary audit missing four of five. Logs reviewed every shift, every inspection report posted the week it arrives, the audit done on time, and a peer-support team that reaches people at their lowest, not at their court date.
Endorsed
Illinois Fraternal Order of PoliceLodge 95
The working police officers of Illinois FOP Lodge 95 have endorsed this campaign. The men and women who answer the calls, work the cases, and know what this office actually requires.
An endorsement from working officers is not a favor traded between offices. It is a judgment made by the people who would have to live with the result.
HEY ILLINOIS! Get this Ranger as your Sheriff!
Can a write-in win?
Yes. It takes more votes than the printed name. Nothing else.
The most common reason a write-in vote is never cast is the belief that it will not count. It counts. Here is why, and the one way it gets lost.
01
Your vote is counted
I filed a Declaration of Intent to be a Write-In Candidate with the Marion County Clerk, stamped September 2, 2026. Write-in votes for me are tallied in the November 3 general election, the same as votes for a printed name.
02
It has been done statewide
In 2010, Lisa Murkowski won Alaska's U.S. Senate race as a write-in. Write-in votes totaled 102,234, against 90,839 for the Republican nominee printed on the ballot. Official results (PDF)
03
The only lost votes are marking mistakes
Sheriff is a vote-for-one race and the most votes wins. A write-in vote is lost only when the oval is left empty or a second oval is filled. Try the practice ballot
Get involved
A write-in campaign is won by people, not by ads.
Every conversation you have about the two steps is worth more than any mailer I could send. Sign up, take a yard sign, or chip in.