After winning the March 3rd Primary, Sheriff Bill Blackburn will start his 12th year serving as sheriff of Llano County. This will be his final term. When asked where he sees himself after his term is complete, Sheriff Blackburn responded: "Avoiding lists." He plans to continue to live in Llano. "I love the people of Llano County. There a lot of unique characters. I love the country—the lakes and rolling hills, and the central location."

Though passionate about his work, he did not always see himself in law enforcement. He graduated from West Texas State where he earned his bachelor's degree in biology and history. "I've always been an outdoor person," said Sheriff Blackburn. In 1972, while taking graduate courses at Texas A&M, he saw an opening for game warden. Before being elected sheriff in 1981, he held a career as a game warden for 36 years.

"A Texas game warden is considered a state law enforcement officer," said Sheriff Blackburn. "We had the same authority." His first station was Aransas Pass back in the early 70s where he worked 90% commercial fishing. After spending over three years on the coast, Blackburn moved to Brownwood, where he lived for three to four years.

Blackburn moved to Llano in January of 1981, where he retired as game warden in 2007. "We worked a lot of the illegal hunting across the lakes," he said. "Nearly all wardens become a part of the local law enforcement when they go to a station. If the local sheriff's office needed help, we'd be there to help."

After retirement, Llano County citizens were encouraging Blackburn to run. "I had no intention on running. It hadn't occurred to me after I retired," said Sheriff Blackburn. "Finally I accepted their offer in 2008 and I won the race and took my position as sheriff in January 2009." He was running against Nathan Garrett who was the incumbent Sherriff. "I had a lot of mixed feelings because I liked Nathan. At the time that I told him I was going to run against him, I was actually working as a deputy for him. He was the first person I told. My wife didn't even know until after he did."

"I remember when I got elected the first time. I was really surprised at how well I did in the race. When they came back with early voting, I thought they messed it up. I thought they got it switched somehow," said Sheriff Blackburn. "When you run for office, you have no idea how you're doing when it comes time for the polls. Just like this last race (against Jim Caruso). But I was pleased with the results." Blackburn received 3,343 votes (70.03%) against his challenger, Jim Caruso, who received 1,431 votes (29.97%).

"The hardest part of the job is with people that don't understand the difficulties that law enforcement face," said Sheriff Blackburn. "There's a lot more than just drinking coffee and riding around. We have to be a lot of things: a counselor, EMT, babysitter, enforcer, consoler. There's a lot of hats that go into everyday work. You also have to control yourself and be official. There are two things I ask of my men: Do your job and don't lie to me."

Sheriff Blackburn has a very high opinion of the Llano County Sheriff's Department. "I have a lot of people who stuck with me and I appreciate their loyalty," he said. "I tell them, you're not going to make the most money, but I promise you'll have the best boss. And I hope to attain that."

Sheriff Blackburn looks forward to his final four years in office and appreciates the community's confidence in him to serve again as sheriff of Llano County.