01
Open the books on the jail
Publish a plain monthly jail report: population, average daily population, medical spend, overtime, transport cost. Right now nobody can tell you what the jail costs. Fixing that costs nothing but discipline.
Conservative Write-In · Marion County
Three generations ofhonorable serviceto this county.
My grandfather was one of Marion County's early deputies. My father gave nearly thirty years to this work at Centralia PD, the Southern Illinois Drug Task Force, and a statewide investigative agency. I came home from twelve and a half years in the Army and served at the village, city, state, and federal level. I am a Conservative, and I am running by write-in, because this office should be decided by the voters. I am running on what needs fixed in a broken system, for the people it has left disenfranchised.
I am asking for your vote to lead the Sheriff's Office and represent the citizens of Marion County as their Sheriff.
Army Airborne Ranger
Combat Veteran · Iraq & Afghanistan
Illinois Sworn Investigator
County Board, District 4
Official Ballot · Sample
Sheriff of Marion County
The one printed candidateleave this oval blank
Cody Rose
Both steps or it does not count. Write Cody Rose on the write-in line and fill in the oval beside it. A name with an empty oval is not counted. See the full instructions →
A word from Cody
I am fighting for your right to vote for your Sheriff, and I am asking for your help in becoming your next Sheriff.
It is true that I did not wake up on August 20th, 2026 and decide that I wanted to be Sheriff. What I wanted was a fair process: the most important office in this county decided by the voters, in the most transparent way possible.
That was not possible.
So I am asking you directly, without anyone standing between us: write me in for Sheriff on November 3rd, 2026.
This campaign refused to take part in a broken nomination process. It has something better: you.
I will be your voice. I will be your gladiator. But I cannot win without your vote.
Cody Rose
Conservative write-in candidate for Sheriff · Marion County, Illinois
Why a write-in
A Conservative, asking you directly.
I am a Conservative. I am running by write-in because the most important office in this county should be settled by the voters who live under it. A write-in run means the decision comes back to you. You are not handed a choice, you make one.
It also means the campaign has one job above all others: making sure every person who wants to vote for me knows exactly how. That is why the instructions come before the biography on this site.
Write the name
On the line marked for write-in candidates under Sheriff, print Cody Rose. Spelling variations of a clearly identifiable name are generally accepted; print it plainly.
Fill in the oval
Darken the oval, box, or arrow next to the line you just wrote on. This is the step people miss, and it is the step that invalidates the vote.
Tell three people
Write-in campaigns are won household by household. If you tell three neighbors both steps, you have done more than a yard sign.
The record
Over twenty years in uniform. Two years reading this county's bills.
I am a sworn Illinois investigator with statewide jurisdiction, assigned to the Illinois Statewide Auto Theft Task Force. I have carried federal credentials on two task forces, the FBI Violent Crime Task Force and the U.S. Marshals Metro East Safe Streets Task Force, and I have been an assistant team leader on two tactical teams.
Since December 2024 I have sat on the Marion County Board for District 4, on the Law Enforcement Committee and as the board's liaison to the EMA. That is the seat that reads the Sheriff's bills every single month. I am not guessing about what this office costs or what it needs.
I am the third generation of my family to wear a badge in this county. This is where I come from, not a place I moved to for a job.
Cody Rose
By the numbers
What the county's own reports say.
21.72%
Sheriff share of expenditures
Revenue / Expense Department Totals, 3/6/26.
408
Sheriff offenses reported, 2025
ORI IL0610000. Essentially flat across five years: 379 / 461 / 370 / 340 / 408.
160
Thefts from motor vehicles, 2025
Up from 41 in 2023. The one trend that is genuinely rising.
$794K
One month's judicial claims
$794,087.13 in July 2026, 75% of total claims. I asked the board what comprises it. No answer came.
Sources: Marion County Revenue/Expense Department Totals (3/6/26); Board Review (7/28/26); Illinois Uniform Crime Reporting public portal, 2021 to 2025.
Where I stand
A Conservative who can show you the receipts.
The taxpayer first
The board set aside $750,000 for the assessment problem. I built the fix instead and did not spend it.
Rights are not negotiable
A Sheriff swears an oath to a Constitution, not to a mood. Over twenty years in, I have not read it selectively yet.
Back the ones who answer
Still doing the job today, and endorsed by the working officers of Illinois FOP Lodge 95.
The platform
Seven things I will actually do.
No promises of deputies I cannot fund. Six of these are items the county's own records already point at. The seventh is a rule I want in writing before it is needed.
02
Finish the capital list already on record
Cameras, jail and office floors, transport vans. These went in front of the board in April in the Sheriff's own department report. Cameras in a jail are evidence. Finish them, with a written condition-and-priority list.
03
Target the trend that is real
Theft from motor vehicles is up roughly four times since 2023. Directed patrol on the hours and townships where it happens, plus a plain public push on locked vehicles and removed firearms.
04
Fix the county's reporting holes
Some municipal agencies stopped reporting to the state entirely. You cannot deploy against data you do not have, and you cannot win grants without it. The county's largest agency should be convening the chiefs to close the gaps.
05
Bring in outside money, not county money
I have already built federal grant capability: a UEI, an active SAM registration, and GATA registration. The alternative to raising the Sheriff's budget share is money that is not the county's.
06
Answer the phone
Response time in the outer townships is the actual complaint. I will publish response times by township and be measured on them.
07
Rules on the plate readers, and no new cameras
Every search tied to a case number, audit logs reviewed by someone who did not run them, and a quarterly audit published. Sharing set to Marion County agency account holders, not a vendor default nobody here voted on.
Endorsed by
The people who do this work for a living.
Illinois Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 95
The men and women who answer the calls, work the cases, and know what this office actually requires. An endorsement from working police officers is not a favor traded between offices. It is a judgment made by people who would have to live with the result.
Get involved
A write-in campaign is won by people, not by ads.
Every conversation you have about the two steps is worth more than any mailer I could send. Sign up, take a yard sign, or chip in.