General election, Tuesday, November 3, 2026
votecodyrose.com
Who I am
Over twenty years in uniform. Three generations here.
I am an Army Airborne Ranger, a combat veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, a sworn Illinois investigator with statewide jurisdiction, and a Marion County Board member. I was born in Centralia, grew up across this county, and graduated from Salem Community High School. My wife Crea and I are raising six children in Centralia.
My grandfather, Norman Leroy Rose, was one of Marion County's early deputies, and my grandmothers were Carolyn Sill and Janet Brubaker. My father, Norman Alan Rose, gave nearly thirty years to this work in Centralia, on the Southern Illinois Drug Task Force, and at a statewide agency. My mother is Terrie Garrett Rose. I am the third generation of my family to wear a badge here. Growing up, I lived in Odin, Kinmundy, Alma, Centralia, Omega, Iuka, and Salem.
I am running as a write-in so the voters, not a caucus, decide who the Sheriff is. I am on leave from my job without pay or benefits for the whole campaign.
Law enforcement
- 2020 to presentInvestigator, Illinois statewide agencyIllinois Statewide Investigative Task Force, statewide jurisdiction. Assistant Team Leader, SWAT, since 2024. SWAT operator 2021 to 2024.
- 2019 to 2021Federal Task Force OfficerSpecial Federal Officer. Special Deputy U.S. Marshal. Federal task forces, violent crime and gang cases.
- 2018 to 2020Gang Intelligence and Patrol Officer, Centralia PDAssistant Team Leader, High Risk Entry Team, 2019 and 2020.
- 2017 to 2018Police Officer, Farina PD / Deputy, Fayette Co. SheriffRural patrol and investigations, where the officer on duty handles the whole call.
- LaborFraternal Order of Police representativeElected by peers at Centralia PD and later at the statewide agency's lodge. Endorsed by Illinois FOP Lodge 95.
Recognition
- Illinois FOP Meritorious AwardResponse to the ambush of a police officer and arrest of the suspect.
- Illinois SOS Police Achievement AwardLocating and apprehending the suspect who killed Deputy Sean Riley, a Marion County native.
- Kids First Award, 2022Missing Person Awareness Network.
- Unit Citation and commendationsStatewide agency; Centralia PD.
Military service
- United States ArmyAirborne Ranger infantry, twelve and a half yearsThirty-six months of combat deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. Honorably discharged as a Sergeant First Class.
- Ranger School graduate and Senior InstructorReturned to teach at the Army's premier leadership school. Doctrine writer.
- Staff Sergeant, Combat Search and Rescue "Pathfinders"Led combat operations, logistics, training, and mission planning for a specialized air mobile infantry platoon in an Assault Aviation Battalion Task Force. Specializing in executive protection, combat search and rescue, battle damage assessment, vehicle interdiction, reconnaissance and surveillance, air-to-ground fires integration, and advanced medical treatment.
- Senior Operations NCO, 101st AirborneTraining, personnel, intelligence, and fires for an air assault infantry battalion. Managed its calendar and budget.
Meritorious Service MedalCombat Infantryman BadgeExpert Infantryman BadgeRanger TabParachutist Badge
County government
- 2024 to presentMarion County Board, District 4Law Enforcement Committee. EMA and Homeland Security liaison. I read the Sheriff's bills every month, so I already know what the jail costs.
- South Central Illinois Regional Planning and Development CommissionBoard member. 2024 delegate, Illinois Republican State Convention.
Every item comes from Marion County's own records
and the state's own crime reporting.
What I will do with the office
Nine goals. All of them checkable.
I will not promise deputies I cannot fund or a crime wave I cannot prove. The Sheriff's Office and the jail already run about 38.48% of county spending. The answer is money that is not the county's.
- Open the books on the jailA plain monthly report: population, medical spend, overtime, transport cost. Right now nobody can tell you what the jail costs.
- Finish the capital list already on the recordJail cameras, floors, transport vans, vehicles. Each is a liability item, not just maintenance. Finish it with a written priority list.
- Target the one trend that is actually risingTheft from vehicles went from 41 in 2023 to 160 in 2025. Directed patrol where and when it happens. No new positions required.
- Fix the county's reporting pictureSome agencies here have stopped reporting crime to the state. Convene the chiefs and close the gaps. You cannot win grants without data.
- Bring in outside money, not more county moneySAM, UEI, and GATA already active, plus a system that finds grants for every agency in the county's Emergency Operations Plan. It comes with me.
- Answer the phone, and work the crashSlow response in the outer townships is the complaint I hear most. If a deputy is on scene, the deputy works the crash. Response times published by township.
- Take down the county's Flock camerasI will call for removal of every county-owned Flock camera. Until then, every search tied to a case number and audited.
- Recruit veterans and their families to Marion CountyOvertime is unfilled slots at time and a half. P.A. 103-623 puts a veteran straight onto the list. I will recruit at transition programs.
- Fix the jailState inspections failed the 30-minute check rule five years running (2021 to 2025: 56% on time up to 94%, never passing) and found the commissary audit missing four of five times. Check logs reviewed every shift, inspection reports posted the week they arrive, the audit on time, and a nonprofit crisis and narcotics peer-support team reaching people in the jail at their lowest.
Where I stand
Constitutional rights are not negotiable. A Sheriff swears an oath to a Constitution, not to a mood. Twenty years carrying it; I will not start reading it selectively now.
Marion County solves Marion County. Shared equipment, shared training, honest mutual aid. Decisions stay local.
Back the people who answer the call. I still do this job. Endorsed by Illinois FOP Lodge 95.
Transparency is a conservative value. I publish what I find, including the findings that do not help me.
Accountability from arrest to sentence. When a case fails, I find out where it broke and the public knows. Neighboring counties make the same law work. So can we.
How to write me in
Every Marion County voter gets the same ballot, whatever your party. Two steps. Both required.
Do not mark anyone else in that contest. Same steps by mail and at early voting. County Clerk: (618) 548-3852.
Sources: Marion County board records, 2026; Illinois UCR portal, 2021 to 2025. Full citations: votecodyrose.com/platform