FRONTIER INJUSTICE

Harrison says that once he found out what happened, he disciplined Marinaro--he won't say how--for getting involved in what should have been left to the Jefferson County sheriff. Marinaro declines comment, saying only, "It was handled within the sheriff's department just fine."

Harrison says he personally wrote to the Wades and promised to help them if they wanted to initiate a civil action against Cranford's ex-wife. "I never heard back from them," he says.

The sheriff says he's still pondering whether to run for a third term. It might be difficult for him, considering the growing rift between east and west in Park County. According to county officials, residents in the Bailey-Platte Canyon area outnumber their Fairplay neighbors by more than twelve to one. It's this geography, some say, that is causing problems for the sheriff.

"If you make the Bailey group happy, you tick off people in Fairplay, and if you want to make Fairplay happy, you tick off people in Bailey," says Linda Nelson, former secretary of the Fairplay Chamber of Commerce. "It's a problem because the county seat is in Fairplay but the population center is in Bailey."
And Harrison claims that his opponents got a running start against him. "Some of the individuals involved were out to get me the day I took office," he says. "I don't know what it is.