Runion Sworn in as Sebastian County Sheriff

By Tammy Moore Teague
Tuesday morning Hobe Runion was sworn in as Sebastian County Sheriff. Runion won the sheriff’s race in the November 2018 election.
Runion has over 27 years of uninterrupted law enforcement service. He started his law enforcement career in 1990 as a reserve patrolman for the city of Barling. He was hired by the Lavaca Police Department as a patrolman in 1992 and served there until 2000, when he was hired by the Sebastian County Sheriff’s Department. During his time at the sheriff’s department he has served as a Patrol Deputy, Resource Officer, criminal investigator, Investigator SGT., Captain, SWAT team member and team leader, and as the Chief Deputy since 2014.
Runion previously served as a volunteer firefighter in Lavaca for 17 years and also as an elected Constable during the 1990’s. He continues to serve our nation as a Senior Chief Petty Officer with the United States Navy Reserve. He deployed to Fallujah Iraq in 2007 and ran a convoy security team that completed over 200 missions. He deployed again in 2013 to Afghanistan where he commanded four security teams.
He currently serves as a founding member of the Sebastian County Opioid Task Force, as a board member for the Hamilton House Child Safety Center, as a member of the Fort Smith Community Health Council Steering Committee, and as a District representative of the Butterfield Trail Boy Scout Council. Additionally he volunteers as a committee member for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes River Valley Run and group leader for Women Run Arkansas. He is a 2015 graduate of Leadership Fort Smith.
He’s married to his wife of 32years, Lorrie Ann (Glidewell) Runion. They are active members of Community Bible Church and have two adult children.