Rowles pulls name from hat
By JIMMY GALVAN Managing Editor

Former Jasper County Sheriff Billy Rowles said he has no intention to run for his old office.

Up until recently, rumors had it that Rowles was going to file for the office and face off against Sheriff Ronnie McBride in the March 2008 primaries.

"Everybody has been trying to get me to run but I have no business in that office," Rowles said.

"There isn't enough money to do your job. It's a lose-lose situation. There is nothing you can do to win when you don't have the money to provide the right type of law enforcement that this county needs."

Rowles served as sheriff for Jasper County for eight years prior to McBride's election and gained nationwide recognition for being the sheriff during the James Byrd Jr. murder investigation.

Rowles said that even though he had been approached about a possible run for the office, he never really considered the option.

"I have been telling everybody for over a year that I didn't want to do it," Rowles said. "I've been catching a lot and lot of people wanting me to do it and that's a boost to your ego but it's not in my game plan right now."

He said he has been encouraged to run for the office from all over Jasper County.

"It's the greatest job in the world if you have enough money to do what needs to be done," Rowles said. "The county just doesn't have the money to do it the way it needs to be done."

Rowles said that when he left office, he stepped away because he was "tired of not having the money to do the job."

"Law enforcement needs to be a top priority for this county," Rowles said. "We need to feel safe in our homes. We need to be crime-free and it takes money to do that."

He said he plans on staying on his retirement path and working part-time for a Jasper law firm.

"I get a chance to make a dollar or two serving papers and that's enough to get my golf money and that's about what I need," Rowles said. "Mama won't loan me any more money to go play golf."

He also said that if he would have run, he knew of certain votes he would not be coming close to receiving.

"My wife said that if I ran that her and none of my kids would vote for me and she would put someone else's bumper sticker on her car," Rowles said.