For the first time in more than a decade, a new sheriff will be at the helm of the Warren County Sheriff's Office.

Larry Sims, who ran unopposed in the November election, took office Monday, Jan. 5, replacing Sheriff Tom Ariss, who retired after 16 years as Warren County's top cop and 50 years in law enforcement.

Sims says no one is going to say, "wow, that's changed" immediately, but his staff and the community will notice a philosophical shift in the way the sheriff's office operates in a county with more than 200,000 residents and 408 square miles of area to be patrolled.

He said his goal is to have more of a constant presence in the communities and at governmental meetings.

Sims, the former chief deputy, won the March primary election handily, earning 56 percent of the vote against two challengers.

Capt. George Hunter, who started with the sheriff's department as a cadet in 1987, has worked with Sims for eight years. He said people were wondering if Ariss would ever retire, but Hunter says Ariss felt safe passing the baton to Sims.

"With Larry's management style and the way he handles people in the public, I'm excited," he said. "I know the quality of service and professionalism that Sheriff Ariss has done for years, Sheriff Sims will continue."

Retiring Sheriff Tom Ariss said Sims came here from Muskingum County eight years ago with a wealth of experience and has expanded on that knowledge, learning all aspects of the department.

"He'll be a good sheriff. He knows it inside and out. He started out in the jail early in his career and he's been through the whole operation," Ariss said.

Sims said he plans to also rely on the experiences of his new staff to find out what has been working and what needs work in the system.

The biggest issue the sheriff's office normally faces is jail overcrowding. Sims said with population projections of 330,000 county residents by 2030, the jail will need to be expanded. Overflow inmates are sent to Butler County now, and that policy will continue as long as possible because Sims supports Ariss' conviction that double-bunking is wrong.

Ariss said when they built the jail addition they took money from the state and in exchange agreed to maintain minimum standards, which given the dimensions of the cells at the jail does not allow double bunking.

Sims concurs: "My philosophy is simple, we are going to abide by the law, and that's minimum standards. Whether we like it or not we are required to do that. Some people say others don't follow the standards. But to not follow the standards puts your people and the inmates at risk and opens us up to liability. I'm not willing to do that."

Commissioner Mike Kilburn says even the top man at the state department of corrections would not ban double-bunking.

"The only real disagreement I ever had with Tom Ariss was over the double- bunking thing," he said. "But these standards are only standards, they are not requirements, and everyone knows that. We had a guy down here from Columbus and he would not tell us we could not double-bunk. I said 'hey, either we're going to double-bunk or you're going to take them back to Columbus with you.' "

Aside from the jail issue, Kilburn said he liked Ariss and he likes Sims and expects to work well with the new top cop.