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Retired state police investigator, Cairo resident Diana Benoit running for sheriff

Jul 09, 2018 6:00 am
Andrea Macko is reporting for the Greenville Pioneer Cairo resident Diana Benoit has declared her candidacy for Greene County sheriff in the November 2019 election. She will seek the Republican nomination. Benoit is a retired New York State Police investigator; she formerly served as a member of the Cairo and the New York State Capital police departments. She attended the Kingston Municipal Police Training Course, and holds degrees from the Rochester Institute of Technology and Marist College. Benoit was assigned as a trooper to Greene County in 1995; in 1997 she was promoted to investigator, and spent 16 years in the Bureau of Criminal Investigation in Catskill. Benoit said, if elected, she would focus on the department budget, public outreach, agency accreditation and substance abuse. She is also looking to make improvements in victim advocacy and establishing an animal abuse task force. Benoit also vowed to explore opportunities to share road patrol services with other agencies in a cost-saving move, but insisted she would not turn the sheriff's department over to the state police. Benoit supports the construction of a new jail facility in Greene County. She is a life member of the National Rifle Association, serves as treasurer for the Greene County Republican Committee and is a member of the Cairo Development Foundation. Benoit is the wife of Cairo Town Supervisor Daniel Benoit. Incumbent Sheriff Greg Seeley has not yet declared his intention to run. Additional candidates are expected to emerge, Macko writes. Read the full story in the Greenville Pioneer.