From the beginning of his campaign for Freeborn County sheriff, deputy Kurt Freitag has marketed himself as a solution for the Sheriff’s Office.

Freitag, 48, will face off against incumbent Sheriff Bob Kindler, 55, in the Nov. 4 general election in what has arguably become the most heated local race. Kindler was elected as sheriff in 2010 after defeating former Sheriff Mark Harig but has served in some capacity with the Sheriff’s Office since 1987.

Freitag and his wife, Cheryl, who is retired from the Minneapolis Police Department, live west of Albert Lea. He has two daughters.

Freitag moved to Freeborn County in 1993, initially serving on the Glenville Police Department and then joining the Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office in 1995.

He spent 20 years in the U.S. Army, 17 of which were as a noncommissioned officer. He said his experiences in the Army have helped him understand the value of good leaders.

“When you have good leaders in place, morale always reflects the type of leader you have,” Freitag said. “They will work harder, work longer and work efficiently for a leader who cares about them.”

If elected, he said he has several goals. The first is to increase patrol presence.

Freitag said he wants to better use existing personnel and noted that on most days presently there is only one patrol deputy on duty during the day and three on at night, leading to mostly reactive response.

Second, Freitag said he wants to increase the professionalism and competency within the department, particularly with investigations, and he wants to inspire people to do their jobs well.

Third, he wants to strengthen the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agreement and encourage as many as 100 federal inmates in the local jail.

“I want to run our jail so we are making the most amount of money possible,” he said. “We have something that many, many counties could only wish they had.”

Fourth, he wants to re-establish a better relationship with the Department of Corrections staff, including strengthening the Sentence to Service program, which he said has weakened.

He said though he has never handled a budget the size of the county’s, he has handled his own budget, which he believes gives him experience.

“To some degree, numbers are numbers, and if you’re responsible with money and resources at a family level, why wouldn’t you be responsible and careful with resources on a much higher level?” he said.

This includes constantly watching the budget and keeping track of spending.

Freitag said Kindler claims he saved about $200,000 in his first year in office alone, but Freitag said this has come at the expense of services. He said there need to be more investigators and more deputies on the road.

He said people have responded positively throughout the community to his message.

He noted he is disappointed in the attacks made against him and his campaign, many of which he claims came from Kindler and his supporters.

“It’s absolutely gotten disgusting,” he said. “It’s gotten extremely personal. It’s gotten criminal, and it’s embarrassing to be a part of it.”