LANSING, NY (607NewsNow) — Months after announcing his re-election campaign for a third term, Tompkins County Sheriff Derek Osborne faces a challenger this fall.
Tompkins County native Jared Bentley says he’s launched an independent campaign to unseat Osborne, telling 607 News Now the sheriff has been mismanaging the department.
“Back in June 2025, there was $26,300 used to board out inmates to other counties — and that was just one month,” Bentley recently told WHCU’s Joe Salzone on 607 This Morning.
“Now they’re talking about adding more electric vehicles with charging stations,” Bentley continued. “That’s six figures. Nobody should ever have to pay that kind of money to somebody; it’s taxpayer money.”
In a statement to 607 News Now, Sheriff Osborne refuted Bentley’s accusations.
“Mr. Bentley mentioned costly electric vehicles. I have no idea where he came up with this notion. Vehicle purchases are centralized at the county level for all departments, including my office. My office does not purchase vehicles, nor are we involved in setting up charging infrastructure,” Osborne stated.
“Board-out costs referenced during the interview occurred during necessary jail repairs and upgrades when we could not safely house all inmates locally. Boarding out, while rare in most circumstances, is actually less expensive than boarding in. Decisions about jail capital projects rest with the legislature, not the sheriff,” Osborne also said.
Bentley added if elected sheriff, he’d focus on adding staff.
“We have a lot of officers and some of them are working very long hours,” Bentley said. “Some officers working in the facility are getting burned out. They’re tired.”
“We are roughly 30 officers short within the department,” Bentley added. “They’re putting in a lot of hours for overtime.”
“Despite claims made during the interview, the Sheriff’s Office is not ’30 officers short.’ We currently have one correction officer opening and two road patrol openings. We have maintained staffing levels while many agencies across New York State have struggled, and the Sheriff’s Office has remained within budget. Mr. Bentley’s claim is preposterous,” Osborne said.
In addition, Bentley has set his sights on the Tompkins County jail.
“We need to talk about being able to build more capacity onto the county jail,” Bentley said. “Even if we have to put an extension on it.”
In his past, Bentley has worked in security at Asteri Ithaca and at a federal detention facility. The general election is Nov. 3.
FULL INTERVIEW: Tompkins County Sheriff candidate Jared Bentley on 607 This Morning
