The Sheriff Department is responsible for upholding the law in all of Sherman County. Exception could be the City of Goodland because they have their own Police Department. Yet the Deputies can still take reports and enforce laws within Goodland. In fact they work with and assist the GPD many times. Occassionally a citizen that lives in Goodland will request the S.O. to handle their problem and the S.O. can respond to the request. Another possible exception would be working I-70 and Hwy 27. The deputies can and do work traffic control and accidents all over the county including the State Highways. But as a general rule or protocol I-70 and Hwy 27 are worked by the Kansas Highway Patrol.

The Sheriff is the only Law Enforcement Official that the people get to vote into office. The Sheriff must appoint someone as his undersheriff and one or the other should be in the county at all times. In the rare times they both have to be out of the county then one of the regular deputies gets appointed to be acting undersheriff until the sheriff or undersheriff returns. But again the Sheriff is the only Law Enforcement Official elected to the position. All others are appointed or hired to do the job. Including the Sheriff Deputies, Police Chiefs, Patrol Officers, FBI Agents, KBI Agents, Highway Patrol, Secret Service, CIA, etc. Areas of the country that have decided to use other forms of law enforcement have also given up the right to vote for their top area official. Thus many of the extremist groups do not recognize anyone other than the Sheriff as being a law enforcement official.

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A Sheriff doesn't have to have any law enforcement experience before being voted into office. But if they have no formal training before being voted into office once elected they must then attend the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center to become certified. After that as with all law enforcement officers in Kansas they must keep current with an additional 40 hrs training each year. Kansas also has a training class given to newly elected Sheriffs.

Deputies are like any other law enforcement person in needing to be certified by KLETC plus needing the additional 40 hrs training each year. At KLETC they also get training on Process Serving. The Sheriff's Dept. is responsible for serving many different types of Civil Process Papers. Everything from divorce papers to having to remove someone's property to pay a debt. Civil Process is not one of the most favorite duties of a deputy.

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The Sheriff's Department also has the only area jail holding facilities. A detention deputy must be on duty 24/7 365 days of the year. Besides holding prisoners that the deputies arrest the jail also holds prisoners for GPD, KHP, Wallace, and Cheyenne Counties. From time to time they hold prisoners for other counties or for prisoner transport employees who stop and sleep in Goodland. Detention deputies fix meals 3 times a day for the prisoners plus keep the laundry done. Detention deputies also must see to buying personal items the inmates may need. Detention deputies are the ones responsible for allowing inmates to have visitations with family and lawyers. Detention deputies have alot of paperwork to keep track of with each inmate, even more so when the inmate needs medication. Detention deputies at times have to take inmates to the doctor or dentist if the inmate has an illness or tooth problem.

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The detention deputies each work a rotating schedule that has them working all 3 shifts in one week. They probably wondering if they are coming or going some days. The 3 shifts are days 8am to 4pm, evenings 4pm to 12 midnight, and graveyard 12 midnight to 8am. The same as any other job in law enforcement some days it is more than an 8 hr shift before you can get away. You just never know when something will happen and more prisoners need to be booked into the jail. At the time of booking the detention deputies will log in all the inmates personal items they have with them. Plus gather personal information about the inmate and keep a record of all the information. Detention deputies will search the inmate for weapons before issuing the famous orange jumpsuits and other items needed while the inmate is in jail. Plus on top of all the normal jail duties the detention deputies are the ones who keep the offices clean. All of that plus doing regular checks of the inmates making sure all is well with them. Things can go fairly smooth until the times you have an inmate that causes them a problem. Detention deputies have to be trained to know when to call for additional help be it medical or for disciplinary reasons.

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Road deputies work 10 hr shifts either days 7am to 5pm or evenings 4pm to 2am. That is if they are lucky and don't end up with an accident to work right at time to go home. They take turns being on call from 2am to 7am and must be prepared to jump out of bed and go to an accident or other call. Beings this is a rural area it normally stays quiet during those hours but when it doesn't it can get hectic for the deputy or deputies. There have been times it may be quiet in Sherman County but Thomas County has a problem or a chase of a suspect going west. At those times all the deputies and sheriff get called out to assist. Same as when Burlington may have a problem heading east. The departments try to work together including anything major that may be happening in Cheyenne or Wallace County. It seems like when you are in law enforcement you are never totally off duty.

The Sheriff's Department have clerical deputies to take care of all the paperwork the road and detention deputies work up. Reports must be made to the state etc. At times the clerical deputies get involved with helping to transport prisoners. Sometimes this involves taking someone the court has committed to Larned State Hospital. Plus now that juveniles are not allowed to be held in the county jail they must be taken to the Wakeeney Juvenile holding center. If transportaion deputies are available they will transport the different kinds of inmates but much of the time for unexpected transports it falls to the regular employees even if their regular shift has ended. Transporting prisoners back to Sherman Co. that have been arrested somewhere else for a Sherman Co. warrant is a duty of the Sheriff's Department. The same as transporting a inmate from Sherman County to one of the Kansas Prisons after an inmate has been convicted of a crime and sentenced to prison.

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I'm including Kansas Wildlife and Parks Officer--Mike Hopper--in with the Sheriff Department for a couple of reasons. One he is the only Park Officer stationed in Sherman Co. and he does work closely with the S.O. He is the one, dispatch will call first with any problems with deer or other wild game. If he isn't available to take the call then it falls to the Sheriff's Dept. This can range anywhere from a deer still being alive after being hit by a car to a skunk living under someone's porch. If someone finds an injured wild animal or bird Mike is the one that tries to help it. To many of us his title is still 'Fish and Game' but I believe he will answer to any of the titles. He has the responsibilities of trying to make sure each hunter/fisherman has the proper license. Also that the sportsman/woman is taking the proper amount of game allowed by state law. I guess I shouldn't give the idea that a sportsman would take illegal game. A true sportsman wouldn't do that. Mike has to find the people that try to ignore the hunting and fishing laws of the state. He has a big job and a large area to cover trying to do his job. He lives in Sherman County but also patrols other counties in NW Kansas. Everyone should appreciate his efforts to keep hunting and fishing fun for all.

The above has been a basic list of things the Sheriff Office handles and does throughout a work shift.

At the time of this writting, 11-10-05 the following is the list of S.O. Personel.

• SH1-Kevin Butts..............................................Sheriff
• SH2-Roger Studer.........................................Undersheriff
• SH3-Burton Pianalto......................................Road Deputy
• SH4-Jason Showalter...................................Road Deputy
• SH5-Brad Parker.............................................Road Deputy
• SH10-Bill Knitig...............................................Detention Deputy
• SH11-Sherrelle Miller...................................Detention Deputy
• SH12-Kathy Bahe............................................Clerical Deputy
• SH13-Barb Disney...........................................Detention Deputy
• SH14-Lance Goodman....................................Detention Deputy
• SH15-Samantha Siruta..................................Clerical Deputy
• SH17-Garald Paxton......................................Transportation Deputy
• SH20-Rich Miller............................................Transportation Deputy
• 1105-Mike Hopper...........................................KS Wildlife and Parks