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GJ Sentinel: King touts law enforcement background
February 25, 2006
State House candidate touts his background
Saturday, February 25, 2006
By GARY HARMON
The Daily Sentinel
An ill-fated Republican-sponsored measure that would put
Colorado law enforcement on the front lines to deal with
illegal immigration illustrates why the Legislature needs
the perspective of law enforcement, candidate Steve King
said.
King, a complex-crimes investigator with the Mesa County
Sheriff’s Department, said House Bill 1134, sponsored by
fellow Republican Dave Schultheis of Colorado Springs, said
the bill would have put Colorado law enforcement on the
front line of what should be a federal issue. King is
running for the open House District 54 seat.
The measure would have required state and local officers to
be trained and allowed to detain persons suspected of being
illegal immigrants.
While it fell short of an actual mandate, the bill would
have “asked Colorado law enforcement and taxpayers to get
involved with trying to put their fingers in the United
States-Mexico border dam that already has the floodgates
open,” King said.
The Schultheis measure was one of several
Republican-sponsored measures that died last week in the
Democrat-controlled Legislature.
King said it showed that the Legislature needs members with
law-enforcement background because it ignored basic issues
that officers have to confront.
It’s unfair to the given community, he said, to have to
take on the costs of housing, feeding and transporting
those arrested after “we go to a bar fight and there are 20
illegal immigrants” taken into custody.
“And if there is no room in the jail, does that mean a
violent offender is released to clear space?” King said.
“And who makes that choice?”
Such a measure would amount to an unfunded request of state
government on local agencies, King said.
Dan Wilkenson, another Republican candidate vying for the
seat being vacated by Rep. Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, is
studying is whether the state can actually take any action
to stem illegal immigration, he said.
Wilkenson said he is looking for suggestions on to how to
deal with illegal immigration.
A third candidate, Tom Kenyon, couldn’t be reached for
comment.
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