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2026 General Election · Tuesday, November 3, 2026

Hamilton County Sheriff

Voted on across Hamilton County. Open seat: Dennis Quakenbush is not on the ballot.

Find your exact ballotAll Hamilton County races

What this office does

The sheriff is an elected county officer created by the Indiana Constitution who arrests offenders, keeps the peace, serves court papers, keeps order in county courts and runs the county jail [1, 2]. The Indiana Sheriffs' Association describes sheriffs as constitutional officers elected by the people, whose work includes operating jails, serving civil process, providing court security and coordinating emergency response [3]. Every county elects its sheriff in 2026 for a four-year term, and no one may serve as sheriff more than eight years in any twelve-year period [1].

The job in full — the duties the Indiana Code puts in it, the term, what it pays and who sets that, and what to ask a candidate.

Term
4 years; the sheriff serves until a successor is elected and qualified [4, 1]
Elected
Countywide by the county's voters on the partisan general election ballot; all county sheriffs are elected in 2026 [1]
Term limit
No more than eight years in any period of twelve years (Indiana Constitution, Article 6, Section 2) [1]
Qualifications
Must have lived in the county for at least one year before the election, be registered to vote in the county by the filing deadline, and file a statement of economic interests; a sheriff who moves out of the county forfeits the office [1, 4]
Pay
A county may pay the sheriff a salary from the county general fund of at least 50% to 100% of the state minimum salary of a full-time prosecuting attorney, depending on county population [5]
On the 2026 ballot
92 races; 26 contested [6]
What the law puts in this job (13)
  • Arrests without a warrant people who commit an offense in the sheriff's view, brings them before a county court, and holds them while the arrest is investigated [2].
  • Suppresses breaches of the peace and pursues and jails felons [2].
  • Takes care of the county jail and the prisoners held there [2, 3].
  • Serves and carries out legal papers (process) directed to the sheriff by courts and the county commissioners [2].
  • Attends and keeps order in all courts of the county, which the Sheriffs' Association describes as providing court security [2, 3].
  • Takes photographs, fingerprints and other identification data from people held for crimes, and DNA samples for felonies [2].
  • Reports twice a year to the Indiana Department of Correction the average daily cost of holding a jail prisoner [2].
  • Holds state prisoners, including people convicted of Level 6 felonies, in the county jail, for which the state reimburses counties at a daily rate set in the state budget [7].
  • Coordinates emergency response and works with local police, prosecutors and community partners [3].
  • In a county whose council creates a sheriff's merit board by ordinance, appoints three of its five members, while the county police officers elect the other two; no more than two sheriff appointees and one elected member may belong to the same party [8].
  • Must report information to federal authorities when a person arrested for a felony or misdemeanor is believed to lack legal immigration status, and, since July 2026, notify the judge setting bail when holding a person subject to an immigration detainer [9, 10].
  • May supervise and inspect businesses such as pawnbrokers and secondhand dealers [2].
  • What the sheriff does not control: the county commissioners must establish and maintain the county jail building [11]; the county makes the appropriation for feeding prisoners and sets the sheriff's salary [5]; the prosecuting attorney decides which crimes to prosecute [12]; and judges decide bail [13].

Hamilton County's numbers for this office

Legal Insights county office research (Oct. 13, 2026): Indiana Gateway budgets 2019-2026 and the indicator sources linked on each line.

This office's 2026 budget

$33,591,966

10.4% of the county's adopted 2026 budget · 75% more than 2019, before inflation

2019: $19,171,6972020: $20,566,1012021: $21,013,1032022: $22,658,8312023: $24,791,9402024: $27,226,9812025: $31,944,9882026: $33,591,966
2019 $19,171,6972026 $33,591,966
The year-by-year figures

Adopted budget, all funds, 2019-2026 (not adjusted for inflation)

  • 2019: $19,171,697
  • 2020: $20,566,101
  • 2021: $21,013,103
  • 2022: $22,658,831
  • 2023: $24,791,940
  • 2024: $27,226,981
  • 2025: $31,944,988
  • 2026: $33,591,966

Budget lines counted: 0005 COUNTY SHERIFF; fund 9503 9503 EXTRADITION & SHERIFF'S ASSIST FUND; fund 9540 9540 SHERIFF PENSION ADMINISTRATIVE FUND

Adopted 2026 county budget (Form 1 line items, Form 4B) and earlier years' budgets

  • Counties budget the jail differently: some put jail costs in the sheriff's department, others in a separate jail department. Compare the sheriff and jail together across counties.
  • Includes $565,000 in funds named for the office (for example a commissary or perpetuation fund) that are not coded to its department.

Also on the record for this office

  • rated capacity: 388.0
  • latest jail count: 362
  • count date: 2024 (Vera v3.1)
  • IDOC holds: 25
  • IDOC holds date: 2026-08-01
  • federal (USMS/ICE) housing: 287g only
  • jail operating budget 2026: 193269.0
  • sheriff dept actual 2025: 29477125.0
  • jail project: [Vera jail-construction file, unverified] 2007 New Jail (Passed, $28.5M, beds 0->70); 2018 Jail Expansion (Passed, $13.5M, beds 296->416)

Measured, for this county

A position compares this county with counties of similar size. It is not a grade: for most measures a higher or lower number is neither good nor bad on its own.

Average daily jail population · 2024

362

People held on an average day.

How much this is the officeholder's to decide: partial: jail population depends on arrests, charging, bail and sentencing decisions by police, prosecutors and judges; the sheriff manages housing and transfers

Position 9 of 11 counties with 150,000 or more residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source · source

Share of people in jail awaiting trial · 2023

45.0%

People held before trial as a share of the jail population.

How much this is the officeholder's to decide: low to partial for the sheriff: pretrial detention is decided by courts (bail) and prosecutors (charging); the county funds pretrial services

Position 10 of 11 counties with 150,000 or more residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source · source

Reported crimes per 1,000 residents · 2025

5.8

Offenses reported by police agencies county-wide (agencies with full-year reporting), not only the sheriff's office.

How much this is the officeholder's to decide: low to partial: the sheriff patrols mainly unincorporated areas; city and town police cover most residents in larger counties

Position 11 of 11 counties with 150,000 or more residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source

About this race

  • Open seat: Sheriff Dennis Quakenbush (Republican) is term-limited [16].
  • May 5, 2026 Republican primary: Lt. Dustin Dixon won with 16,603 votes (62.74%) over Chief Deputy John Lowes, with 9,862 (37.26%). No Democrat had filed at that point [21, 20].
  • July 2, 2026: Charles Hollowell filed as the Democratic candidate at the Hamilton County Clerk's Office, one of four Democrats added to the county ballot [16, 22].
  • October 6, 2026: Dixon and Hollowell were scheduled to appear together at The Exchange, a breakfast series of the Westfield and Noblesville chambers of commerce [23]. No account of what was said there was found.
  • Both candidates are career law-enforcement officers. Dixon is a lieutenant inside the sheriff's office; Hollowell reports more than 25 years in law enforcement [24, 25]. Published detail on either candidate's specific plans for the jail, staffing or immigration cooperation is limited.

Candidates on the ballot

Dustin K. Dixon

Republican

Republican nominee and lieutenant in the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, where he has worked since 2002; his campaign is organized around "Protection, Technology, and Responsibility" [26, 27].

Dixon's background

  • Lieutenant with the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office overseeing day-shift patrol, including animal control and probation security; joined as a merit deputy in 2002 [24].
  • According to his campaign site: canine handler 2005–2019, promoted to sergeant in 2010 and lieutenant in 2019, led the Investigations Division from December 2019, and returned to patrol as a shift commander in January 2023 [27].
  • Began county work in 2001 as Pretrial Diversion Coordinator in the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office [24, 27].
  • U.S. Army veteran (field artillery forward observer, 1995–1998); bachelor's degree in criminal justice and criminology from Ball State University [27].
  • Business partner and client manager at a local security consulting and staffing firm [24].
  • Member of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 103 [24].

Dixon's positions

Patrol & response

  • Lists "reducing the influx of violent crime" as a public-safety priority [27]; his 2024 announcement described reducing crime through "data-driven strategies, increased training" and up-to-date equipment [26].

Budget

  • Pledges "responsible use of tax dollars entrusted to the agency" [26, 27].

Transparency

  • Said he wants an office that "listens, responds, and works transparently with our community" [26].
  • Proposes to "enhance the use of technology to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of agency operations" [27].

School safety

  • His campaign biography says he serves on the Hamilton Heights School Corporation Safety Committee; no school-safety platform item was found [27].

How Dixon would run the office

  • Partner with "community groups, non-profits and social service agencies" [27].
  • Discussed transparency, technology in policing and support for deputies in an April 2026 podcast interview [28].

How Dixon got on the ballot

  • Filed as a Republican candidate in January 2026 [24].
  • Won the May 5, 2026 Republican primary with 16,603 votes (62.74%) over Chief Deputy John Lowes, who had 9,862 (37.26%) [21, 20].

Dixon's endorsements and funding

  • Former sheriff and retired Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter is his honorary campaign chairman [24].
  • Endorsed by Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness and Noblesville Mayor Chris Jensen [29].
  • In his own submitted bio, Dixon says he is backed by every living former Hamilton County sheriff, all four Hamilton County Fraternal Order of Police lodges, and Mayors Jensen, Fadness, Willis and Finkham [30].
  • His campaign site lists endorsements including former Hamilton County prosecutors Sonia Leerkamp and Greg Garrison and retired Fishers Police Chief George Kehl [27].

What we could not find about Dixon

  • Current Publishing coverage of the Republican primary could not be reviewed for this profile.
  • No detailed published positions on jail operations, corrections staffing or pay, or drug enforcement were found; the podcast audio was not reviewed.
  • FOP lodge endorsements are documented only in his own submitted bio.
  • No direct statements about Sheriff Quakenbush's record were found. His announcement said it is "time to move beyond 'policing as usual' and toward true partnership with our residents" [26].
  • No campaign-finance totals were found in sources reviewed.

Dixon's campaign website

Sources for Dixon

Charles Hollowell

Democratic

Democratic nominee with more than 25 years of law-enforcement experience, who says he is running to offer "experienced, transparent, and community-focused leadership" for the sheriff's office [25].

Hollowell's background

  • Reports more than 25 years of law-enforcement experience in a variety of leadership roles; the announcement did not name his agency or rank [25].
  • Hamilton County resident for nearly 25 years [25].

Hollowell's positions

Transparency

  • Says he would lead the office with a focus on "professionalism, accountability, and treating every person with dignity and respect" [25].

How Hollowell would run the office

  • Held a campaign kickoff on July 12, 2026, in Westfield [25].
  • Scheduled to appear with Dixon at the Oct. 6, 2026 chamber of commerce Exchange event [23].

How Hollowell got on the ballot

  • Was not on the May 5, 2026 primary ballot; no Democrat had filed for sheriff by then [20].
  • Filed paperwork at the Hamilton County Clerk's Office on July 2, 2026, as one of four candidates the county Democratic Party added to the November ballot [16, 22].

What we could not find about Hollowell

  • The agency where he currently serves and his rank were not confirmed; Current Publishing coverage could not be reviewed for this profile.
  • Mechanism by which he was placed on the ballot (party ballot-vacancy procedure) was not stated in the articles reviewed.
  • No campaign website, questionnaire answers or detailed positions on the jail, staffing, budget, school safety, drugs or 287(g) were found.
  • He did not appear in The Hamilton County Reporter's candidate-submitted bio pages (as of Oct. 7, 2026).
  • One photo caption in The Reporter spelled his name "Holloway"; the ballot and article text use "Hollowell".
  • Coverage of him is thin compared with the Republican nominee, who also ran a contested primary.
  • No public statements about Sheriff Quakenbush's record were found. His announcement said Hamilton County "deserves experienced, steady leadership that puts people first" [25].
  • No endorsements or campaign-finance totals were found in sources reviewed.

Sources for Hollowell

Forums and debates

Public events where you can see the candidates, from the hosts' own announcements. Check the host's page for changes before you go.

  • Tuesday, October 6, 2026, 8:30 a.m. · Candidate forum (held)

    The Exchange: Hamilton County sheriff candidate forum · hosted by Westfield and Noblesville Chambers of Commerce

    The Bridgewater Club, Westfield ($5 members / $10 non-members, registration requested)

    Candidates invited or confirmed: Dustin K. Dixon, Charles Hollowell

    Details (Noblesville Chamber of Commerce)

Key points

  • Open seat: Sheriff Dennis Quakenbush (Republican) is term-limited. (LarryInFishers.com)
  • Groundbreaking for the $32M Public Safety Training Center was in Nov 2025. 2027 plans include about 17 new positions for two new courts and public safety centers. State law caps county levy growth, and LSA projects lower levies under SEA 1. (hamiltoncoin.api.civicclerk.com)

Sources

Researched Sunday, October 11, 2026

  1. 2026 Indiana Candidate Guide (County Offices: County Sheriff) (Indiana Election Division)
  2. Indiana Code 36-2-13-5: Duties of sheriff (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  3. 2026 ISA President Statement (Jeffrey A. Balon, Porter County Sheriff) (Indiana Sheriffs' Association)
  4. Indiana Code 36-2-13-2: Sheriff residency and term (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  5. Indiana Code 36-2-13-2.8: Sheriff's salary (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  6. 2026 General Election Candidate List (Indiana Election Division)
  7. Indiana Department of Correction readies to pay $12 million in jail back payments (Indiana Capital Chronicle (via Inside INdiana Business))
  8. Indiana Code 36-8-10-3: Sheriff's merit board (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  9. Braun signs bill into law requiring jails to tell ICE about potential immigration violations (Network Indiana (via WMNC 95.3))
  10. Illegally in Indiana: New state law aims at cracking down on illegal immigration (WNDU)
  11. Indiana Code 36-2-2-24: County courthouse, jail and offices (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  12. Indiana Code 33-39-1-5: Duties of prosecuting attorneys (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  13. Amendment to deny bail to some offenders moves closer to November ballot (WFYI (via Indiana Public Media))
  14. Hamilton County Democrats Add Four Candidates to November Ballot (LarryInFishers.com)
  15. Hamilton County GOP Primary Effectively Decides Sheriff's Race; Key November Matchups Take Shape (LarryInFishers.com)
  16. 2026 Primary Election Final Official Results: (R) County Sheriff (Hamilton County Election Office)
  17. Four Democrats file to run for county-wide offices (The Hamilton County Reporter)
  18. Meet the candidates running for Hamilton County Sheriff (The Hamilton County Reporter)
  19. Veteran Deputy Dustin Dixon Files as Republican Candidate for Hamilton County Sheriff (LarryInFishers.com)
  20. Hollowell running for Hamilton County Sheriff (The Hamilton County Reporter)
  21. Dustin Dixon announces candidacy for Hamilton County Sheriff (The Hamilton County Reporter)
  22. Dixon for Sheriff (campaign website) (Dixon for Sheriff campaign)
  23. Podcast: Dustin Dixon, Republican Candidate, Hamilton County Sheriff (LarryInFishers.com)
  24. Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness endorses Dustin Dixon for Hamilton County Sheriff (The Hamilton County Reporter)
  25. Meet the Candidates (candidate-submitted bios) (The Hamilton County Reporter)
What's included
the U.S. House, statewide offices, every Indiana House and Senate district on the ballot, Indiana's statewide public questions and judicial retention questions, and county, township, city, town and school board races from the Indiana Election Division's candidate list.
Everything else
Local races (county, city, school board, judges) and anything else on your ballot are on your official sample ballot: IndianaVoters.in.gov.
Candidate lists
As of Sunday, October 18, 2026.
At the polls
Indiana law lets you bring a list of candidates and public questions into the polling place, including one stored on your phone, as long as you don't electioneer. IC 3-11-8-18.5

This is not an official ballot. Confirm your registration, polling place and ballot with your election office through vote.gov.