2026 Primary Election: Retired Law Enforcement Officer Challenges Two-Term Sheriff
With no Democratic candidate, the primary race winner will determine the next Flathead County Sheriff
By Maggie Dresser
Running for a third term as Flathead County Sheriff, Brian Heino faces challenger Evie Cahalen, a Marion resident who has more than 25 years of law enforcement experience. With no Democratic candidates, the June 2 primary will determine the winner.
Holding the position since he was first elected in 2018, Heino, 47, was born and raised in the Flathead Valley and has served with the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office since 2003 after graduating from Sheridan College and spending a brief stint at the Sheridan Police Department. During his tenure at the sheriff’s office, Heino has served in a variety of leadership roles including on patrol, the SWAT team, the Northwest Montana Drug Task Force and as the Search and Rescue coordinator, Heino told the Beacon in an interview.
Endorsed by the Flathead County Republican Central Committee, Cahalen moved permanently to the Flathead Valley in 2013 and has worked in law enforcement ranging from a police commander to contracting positions as a training facilitator. Graduating from American University in 1982 with a degree in administration of justice, Cahalen also earned a master’s degree in police management at Johns Hopkins University, according to her campaign website and Linkedin account. Cahalen did not respond to multiple interview requests.
Locally, Cahalen is the president of the Flathead County Republican Women, the second vice president of the Montana Federation of Republican Women and the Flathead County Republican Central Committee Precinct 1 committeewoman. She has also served on the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office Advisory Board, according to her resume.
Cahalen’s law enforcement career includes 24 years as the police commander and as the director of the internal affairs division for the Montgomery County Police Department in Maryland while serving in multiple consulting roles, including for the U.S. State Department since 2012.
Running on a campaign to address staffing, the mental health crisis and technology advancement, Heino plans to continue working to keep up with the Flathead Valley’s growth if re-elected. First elected in 2018, he has since expanded school resource officers and developed a K9 unit while he’s worked with Flathead County commissioners to increase staffing as population growth continues to pose challenges for local law enforcement.
“Population growth really accelerated around 2020, and you saw large growth rates and not a lot of increase in staffing,” Heino said. “We had to get creative with that, we went to online reporting, we went to 12-hour shifts – the commissioners and I have had a lot of conversations.”
Heino said he is working with county officials to increase his deputies’ pay, a discussion he prioritizes as “front and center” while he continues collaborating to move the new public safety facility forward after voters last year approved a $105 million public safety bond. The new jail will double the current inmate capacity size, add more mental health resources and relocate the justice center to south Kalispell. Construction crews are preparing to break ground on the new facility where work will continue over the next 30 months.
“The new facility has a better environment to house these individuals,” Heino said, referring to mentally ill inmates. “It will give them better access to light and we’re working with community partners to have a transitional service. Overall right now, our staff is doing amazing things and being creative … we’re doing everything we can to take the best care of them that we can.”
Running on a campaign focused on improving community relations, providing improved training and mitigating the jail’s liability, Cahalen said the current Flathead County Detention Center’s outdated infrastructure and insufficient staff poses a risk. If elected, she will partner with county and state agencies to work to reduce liability risks until the new facility is built.
For Cahalen, her bid for the Flathead County Sheriff also centers around building community “rapport” and ensuring “quality training and a fair promotional process” for deputies. If elected, she plans to restructure patrol routes to drive consistency and to foster community relationships. She also plans to implement Neighborhood Watch programs and reinstate the Citizens’ Academy to allow Flathead County residents to participate in community policing.