HEATON ELECTED BUTLER SHERIFF

POPLAR BLUFF - Republican Bill Heaton was elected Tuesday to serve a two-year unexpired term as sheriff of Butler County.

Heaton defeated acting Sheriff Fred Armes, a Democrat, and Harold Braden, an independent, to earn the position.

Heaton got 3,517 votes, while Armes polled 2,842 and Braden received 433.

The special election was held to fill the unexpired term of the late Sheriff Kenneth Link, who died late last year.

Heaton was Link's chief deputy and had been a deputy in the sheriff's department for the last ten years.

In campaigning for the office, Heaton said he wanted to establish a solid reserve unit for the department and more fully utilize volunteers for some assignments. Heaton, 47, is a Vietnam veteran.

He won a Purple Heart from the National Sheriff's Association after he was shot during the apprehension of a felon in 1987.