Past Sheriff of Yuma County

 

Sheriff Lee Elmer Echols
Sheriff Lee Echols

Term Dates
January 1, 1961 - December 31, 1962
 

Lee Elmer Echols retired from U.S. Customs in June 1960, having served as a Customs officer since the age of 21. Shortly after his retirement from Customs, he announced his candidacy for the office of Sheriff of Yuma County. His campaign platform included the development of an in-service training program for the Sheriff’s Office deputies in which FBI and Treasury schools would provide instruction in modern police methods and techniques. He also planned on training the deputies in public relations so that they would be courteous, friendly and well mannered boosters for Yuma County.

On September 13, 1960, Echols defeated the incumbent, Thomas H. “Pete” Newman, and Clay Hooker in the Democratic primary. Echols went on to defeat Republican James Vonda Banks and Pete Newman, who received a heavy write-in vote, in the general election held on November 8, 1960.

When Sheriff Echols took office, he made many changes, including adopting a uniform for the deputies, adopting a new 7-point star badge, and hiring new personnel. The new Deputy Sheriff patchuniforms consisted of a tan western hat with bound edge, a light tan shirt, dark brown tie and pants with Wellington boots. The shirt included shoulder patches inscribed with “Yuma County Sheriff Deputy” in gold. The center of the patch was a green saguaro cactus with a blue sky background. The new 7-point star badge also displayed the green saguaro in the center.

 

7-point star badge adopted by Sheriff Lee Echols in 1961.

7-point Sheriff badge

7-point deputy badge

 

Organizational changes made by Sheriff Echols included assigning a sergeant to Parker and Wellton. The sergeant stationed in Parker had charge of the north end of the county, and the sergeant stationed in Wellton had charge of the east side of the county.

Sheriff Echols’ faced several challenges during his first year in office; one of which included the exhaustion of the Sheriff’s funds for fiscal year 1960-61 in his first six months. Sheriff Echols reported to the BOS that he had been confronted with extraordinary problems which had eaten up his funds. Echols stated that the shortage was due to having to purchase supplies for the jail and the Sheriff's Office, repairing patrol cars and paying bills that were incurred by his predecessor.

Sheriff Echols also faced problems in his first year regarding his expenditures. On June 12, 1961, a request was brought before the Yuma County Board of Supervisors (Robert Nissen, Otis Shipp and Jim Fuquay) by Mr. Ray Slosson to obtain a court order from County Attorney Jeff Richards to investigate Sheriff Echols’ expenses for a trip he had made to San Francisco in which Mr. R.H. Lutes accompanied him as a special deputy. Although a court order was not issued, the BOS voted to investigate the Sheriff’s expenditures of his San Francisco trip. In August 1961, Supervisor Nissen stated that an investigation of the charges against Sheriff Echols had been made and that he and Supervisor Shipp had found nothing to substantiate the charges and that the investigation was closed.

Another challenge that Sheriff Echols faced was the threat of a recall election. According to The Yuma Daily Sun, on Sunday, June 18, 1961, a meeting was held with approximately 30 persons in attendance for the purpose of “checking into the advisability, feasibility and possibility that a recall election be started against Sheriff Echols.” During this meeting, “The Better County Government Committee” was formed and Ray Slosson was elected as chairman. According to the Yuma Daily Sun article dated June 19, 1961, former Sheriff Newman and several former deputies were among the 24 members of this new organization. In his opening statement to the newly formed committee, Slosson stated that Sheriff Echols was guilty of one of two things, misconduct in office for allegedly lying when questioned about funds, or misappropriating county funds. At the conclusion of the meeting, Slosson stated that July 1st was the earliest date that a recall petition could be filed. According to a Yuma Daily Sun news article dated August 28, 1961, the recall petitions against Sheriff Echols were dropped by Mr. Slosson on August 27, 1961.

In his bid for re-election, Sheriff Echols faced Democratic challenger Travis “Bud” Yancey, a former City of Yuma patrolman, in the primary election which was held on September 11, 1962. The race for the Democratic nomination was heated and one of the biggest issues being raised by Yancey was Sheriff Echol’s request to the Board of Supervisors for a budget increase of $62,044 (or 28%) over the current budget. Yancey soundly defeated Sheriff Echols in the primary election, winning by a wide margin in almost every precinct.

Although Sheriff Echol’s only served one 2-year term as Sheriff of Yuma County, he achieved several accomplishments while modernizing the Sheriff’s Office. Some of his most notable achievements that continue to this day were the adoption of a uniform for the deputies, putting deputies in well marked patrol cars, and the development of a training program for deputies. He also adopted a 7-point star badge which included a green saguaro cactus in the center. Although new badges have been adopted since 1961, the green saguaro cactus remains in the center of the badge. The “Yuma County Sheriff Deputy” shoulder patch that Sheriff Echols adopted as part of the deputy uniform which included a green saguaro cactus with a blue sky background has also remained the same.

 

Resources
Following are newspaper articles found on the internet and research information used to put together the brief biography for Sheriff Lee Echols:

 
Back to Top