When Scott Roskovski first became a deputy in the Butler County sheriff's office 15 years ago, his mother gave him some advice.

"'Scotty, if you work really hard, maybe someday you can become sheriff,'" he recalled her saying.

Even after becoming a county detective, that goal never left Roskovski's mind.

With Sheriff Dennis Rickard retiring at the end of the year, Roskovski is running in Tuesday's Republican primary for the post.

One of Roskovski's priorities as sheriff would be to address the drug problem in the county. He said that can be accomplished by doing one of the office's tasks: serving warrants.

The office has more than 1,500 warrants that need to be served. Roskovski said many of those deal with drug cases.

He blames drug addicts for being responsible for other crimes, such as theft, to pay for their habits.

Roskovski pointed out a drug user has the opportunity to commit new crimes if a warrant isn't served promptly.

Roskovski would use his experience in tracking suspects to find those who have outstanding warrants.

What Roskovski isn't interested in doing is acquiring a drug dog for the office. He said a K-9 unit would be cost-prohibitive for the county.

Roskovski said a bomb-sniffing dog also isn't a necessity with the Allegheny County bomb squad 20 minutes away.

He said the money would be better used to pay the salary of another deputy.

"I'd rather have a human employee than a dog," Roskovski said. "I think they're (dogs) a valuable tool, just not for the sheriff's office, at least not at this point."

Facing the future sheriff is a possible shortage in manpower. The county in April cut seven full-time deputy posts.

But Roskovski isn't deterred by the prospect of an understaffed office.

"I believe everybody will step up," he said.

Roskovski said everyone in the office would take on the workload and duties would be prioritized.

"I guess I'd be transporting inmates too," he said, referring to one of the main jobs of the office.

Roskovski does not support the county commissioners' suggestion to use a private security force in the governmaent center lobby to offset an insufficient number of deputies.

He said a deputy still would be needed to oversee the entrance.

"Are we any further ahead? I don't think so," Roskovski said. "I'm not sure private security is necessarily the answer."

He plans on working with the county commissioners and controller to determine staffing needs and monitor financial records.

"I understand you have to build relationships with other row officers," Roskovski said.

He would use a software system the commissioners and controller offices could access.

Roskovski would freeze existing accounts in the office while opening new ones to keep track of finances.

He does not want to expand the deputies' duties to include the ability to pull over reckless motorists.

"They have plenty of duties," Roskovski said about the deputies.

He intends to increase the office's community involvement, such as its participation in the school-based drug education program DARE.

Roskovski said he also would add deputies to the county's Community Service Program. Run by the court, probation officers supervise people sentenced to the service program.

Roskovski cites his leadership ability and understanding the operations of the sheriff's office as preparation for the post.

A 1986 graduate of Butler High School, he lives in Center Township with his wife, Stephanie, son, Jacob, 11, and daughter, Sophia, 8.

His opponent in the primary is Butler Township police officer Mike Slupe.

Democrat Roland Livermore is running unopposed.