police and eight years currently as a sheriff of hennepin county. it's my distinct honor to be here on behalf of these two organizations, national sheriff's association and major county sheriff's association. i want to thank you for holding this listening session. as is currently there's no currently serving sheriff on the task force we feel that today's forum plays a critical role in providing the public with the insights, the experiences and the perspectives from our nation's sheriffs. sheriffs are unique in a number of ways. first, we're the only democratically elected law enforcement leaders in the country. most directly accountable to the public they serve. sheriffs are the only law enforcement officers in the nation that provide the full line of criminal justice services, including corrections to the operation of our jails. lastly sheriffs hold a wide variety of policing and public safety responsibilities due to the diversion geographic and demographic makeup of our counties. sheriffs across this great country represent remote rural areas as w