If this week’s Republican caucus meeting is any indication, there could be hundreds of people at the Summit County Republican Party nominating convention at Park City High School March 31.

The event is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

“We’re going to get great turnout,” said Jeremy Ranch resident Henry Glasheen, chairman of the Summit County Republican Party.

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert is slated as the keynote speaker for the convention, Glasheen said.

With two Republicans in the race for Summit County sheriff, convention delegates will decide whether Sheriff Dave Edmunds will face a primary election against South Summit Republican Kris Hendricksen in June. If one of the Republicans in the sheriff race receives at least 60 percent of the votes from the delegates at the convention they will eliminate their opponent and advance automatically as the party’s pick on the November ballot.

Edmunds is seeking a third term and the stakes are high with Hendricksen hoping to unseat the incumbent sheriff. Edmunds said he expects to defeat Hendricksen at the convention on Wednesday.

Hendricksen is a former Summit County Sheriff’s Office deputy who resigned from the department about 18 months ago. He said he has worked in law enforcement for 25 years.

Hendricksen claimed there has been heavy turnover at the Sheriff’s Office since Edmunds took over the department. He criticized Edmunds for hiring deputies who do not live in Summit County.

Many employees have left the department having disagreed with the sheriff, Hendricksen said.

Meanwhile, Edmunds countered that Hendricksen has no experience as an administrator and is not qualified to be the sheriff.

“Speaking of my opponents collectively, they are ill-prepared and ill-qualified to lead an organization the size and the complexity of the Sheriff’s Office,” Edmunds said.

Since leaving the Sheriff’s Office Hendricksen has not worked in law enforcement on a full-time basis, Edmunds said.

The winner of the Republican nomination for sheriff could take on Democrat Dax Shane for the office in November.

Glasheen said the sheriff race is the only contest that delegates could decide at the convention on Wednesday.

The convention for the Summit County Democratic Party is scheduled April 17 at 4 p.m. at the Legacy Lodge at Park City Mountain Resort.