If Prince William County Sheriff Glen Hill (R) is going to have a difficult path to a third consecutive term, then it appears no one has told any Democrats or primary-seeking Republicans.

Conversations Monday with both of the county party committee chairmen revealed that Hill does not face either a general election challenge yet from a Democrat or a primary contest from a Republican. The county's GOP chairman Lyle Beefelt could only list one of Hill's two 2007 primary opponents, Mike Messier, as willing to run as an independent. Hill won the party's nomination with 61 percent of the vote.

"I don't have people beating down (my) door" wanting to take on Hill, said Beefelt, later mentioning that Hill often earns the loudest applause at local GOP gatherings.

The county Democratic chairman Bruce Roemmelt said he knows one person interested in running on his party's ticket but nothing has solidified yet. In fact, Roemmelt even joked that if the 64-year-old sheriff that defeated former two-term Sheriff Lee Stoffregen III (D) in 2003, that'd be fine with him.

During a nearly hour-long interview Monday upstairs at the Gainesville Wegmans, Hill said that when he was first elected, he wanted to restore "dignity and respect" to the office, bring in a "new era of cooperation" with other local departments and "focus on the mission of the office."

He distinguished himself by saying "first of all, I'm not a politician. I have to go through the political process." By the fact that he raises money, supports other GOP candidates for office and actively campaigns for his job, Hill is, in fact, a politician.

However, his job title lends itself to Hill being able to act more as an administrator than a political person as opposed to, say, a legislator.

"I know the business," said Hill, who also serves as chairman of the Prince William-Manassas Regional Jail Board.

One of the main issues he raised for his campaign is transportation. After the General Assembly responded to the Virginia Tech massacre shooting in 2007, Hill said his department had to transport more people to mental health institutes. As the population has grown and the demand for service rose, the sheriff explained that, in his view, he needs one more transport vehicle at two more employees that can handle runs.

He mentioned that the police department tends to hand local transports while the sheriff's deputies drive longer routes to places like Hampton Roads and Petersburg. The strain that causes is on the individuals that complete each round-trip transport in that they often are still assigned to work the next morning after pulling a night-shift driving.

Hill said he's had to ask some employees to take off the next day. He also discussed shifting some workers to 10 hours days, four days a week instead of having them work five eight-hour days, which he says is more efficient and still allows the sheriff's office to be fully functional each day of the week.

Referring to the Board of County Supervisors, Hill said, "I will be asking the board to help me begin to establish a transportation unit," he said, citing the issue as his biggest "concern" given that there could be up to 10 people out in a single night on transport duties.

When it comes to implementing the county's 287 (g) agreement with the federal government that allows local law enforcement officials to begin deportation proces for illegal immigrants in custody, Hill said the policy "hasn't affected me" but he could use another civilian employee to help out with administrative work to free up his staff.

"Each one of them can probably tie up half a day," he said. Hill proposed that the extra employee could also work on finger printing and other activities away from strictly processing 287 (g) cases.

Hill said he expects to address those concerns at the March 22 county board meeting.

The sheriff finds himself this year in a similar position to that of Prince William Commonwealth's Attorney Paul Ebert (D) in that he is an overwhelming favorite to win re-election to a county-wide office without the prospect of a serious challenge coming from either major political party. He scored a 79-21 percent win over independent Louis Dominguez in 2007 after the Democrats failed to nominate a candidate. The county committee instead endorsed Dominguez after the nomination process played out.

The most likely reason for that is that Hill's tenure in office has not been marked by the same level of acrimony away from the duties of the office that marked Stoffregen's incumbency. For instance, when asked what issues a Democratic candidate would highlight running against Hill, Roemmelt offered praise instead to Hill for keeping the Manassas courthouse safe.

Roemmelt said he plans to focus his recruiting efforts on more partisan, policy-based offices such as the General Assembly and Board of County Supervisors as opposed to constitutional offices.

Hill does engage in party functions and some anti-abortion activists within the party take issue with him supporting abortion rights in cases of rape, incest and when the life of the mother is at risk. However, social issues have played little affect in his job.

According to the sheriff's Web site, the mission of the office "is to provide security at the Judicial Center, serve all court process, provide timely transport for prisoners and patients, and continue to develop and enhance collaboration with all of our partners."

One of Hill's staunchest allies is Manassas Del. Jackson Miller (R-50th), who is openly weighing a bid for state Senate though he has yet to officially declare.

"I would strongly support and work for Glen Hill over Mike Messier," said Miller, who called Messier a "nice guy" with a law enforcement background.

Miller, a former Prince William County police officer who had to work with the sheriff’s office from time to time while on patrol, offered an unconditional endorsement of Hill on Monday and Hill returned that to Miller for whatever office he may pursue in the fall.

"Jackson Miller is a friend and he helped me," said Hill. "Loyalty means a lot with me."