Jeff Herrig/Credit: Jefferson Co Sheriff

 

(KAIR)--After 43-years of overall law enforcement service, Jefferson County's Sheriff is saying goodbye.

In a text conversation with MSC Radio News, Jeff Herrig says he and his family will continue to reside in Jefferson County while he continues to aid law enforcement through assistance at meetings and conferences of the Kansas Sheriff's Association.

According to the minutes of the March 30 meeting of the Jefferson County Commission, Herrig provided the county leaders with a briefing regarding progress on the expansion of the county jail. Once finished, completed with an invitation to the Commission to tour the upgrades, Herrig's successor was introduced. Tim Bacon will step into the role of Jefferson County Sheriff beginning June 1, following his selection through a vote of the County's Republican Precinct Committee.

Herrig's final day will be May 30.

According to a 2023 Valley Falls Vindicator profile of Herrig, published to recognize his 40th anniversary of service to Jefferson County, he began his long-running career in law enforcement patrolling the County's Perry Lake in 1982, working 60-hours a week for $1,000 monthly. He had, the article says, chosen the field of law enforcement following his high school graduation, returning to the Lake Patrol the next summer before beginning full time employment with the county the following fall.

In 1993, Herrig began serving as Jefferson County Undersheriff under then-Sheriff Roy Dunnaway which led to the honor of Herrig becoming the first lieutenant for the Sheriff's Office. Dunnaway retired in 2008, leading the GOP precinct to recommend Herrig for the role of Sheriff to which was appointed by then-Governor Kathleen Sebelius. The following fall, Herrig was elected Sheriff by the voters of Jefferson County who have kept him in that role through the present.

Herrig and his wife, Melinda, have raised eight children who, in turn, have made them grandparents numerous times over.