POLSON — There’s a new sheriff in town — well, officially on Jan. 1 — and he’s ready to get in the saddle and lead the department he’s worked for for 13 years.

Sheriff-elected Jay Doyle is no stranger to an administrative position at the Lake County Sheriff’s office — he has held the undersheriff position for the past four years under Sheriff Lucky Larson — and he’s ready for the new responsibilities his top-management position entails.

“I’m looking forward to making some positive changes and hope we can get back to where we need to be,” Doyle said. “I’ve been having meetings with the guy I’m going to have as my undersheriff and I’ve spoken to some guys in the department to get their ideas. [I’m] just looking forward to working as a team and going forward.”

Doyle’s choice for his undersheriff is Karey Reynolds, who also happens to be the man that got Doyle involved in the sheriff’s office in the first place. Doyle said Reynolds, as a sheriff’s deputy, encouraged him to become a reserve deputy, which Doyle did in 1988. From there, he became a detention officer, a Polson police officer, LCSO detective — just about every position you can hold, he said.

“It was never a goal [to become sheriff],” Doyle said. “It was a goal to become detective, but I never aspired to be sheriff. It went through my mind about a year ago, it was a time in my career to advance and I thought I had good ideas to help the department.”

To get to his position, his first foray into politics, Doyle went through a long process after filing for candidacy in January. Doyle (1,736 votes), a Republican, just barely edged Jeff Kingery (1,591) during the June 8 primary. A contentious campaign led up to the general election, where Doyle (2,356 votes) prevailed against Independent candidate Steve Kendley (2,213) and Democrat Dan Yonkin (1,655). All three men have worked in the LCSO for several years; Yonkin and Kendley are members of the detective unit.

“I sure hope it doesn’t carry over,” Doyle said of any after effects of the campaign. “What I’m going to try and do is try to get the team mentality back, we need to work as a team. In order to do that, I need to keep my doors open for communication with every department. I’ve approached both Dan Yonkin and Steve Kendley and said I’d like to meet with them and get their ideas and see what they were going to change if they were elected. They’ve got some great ideas I think we can implement.”

Doyle has some ideas of his own. He’s ready to send more deputies to patrol rural roads and areas, places Doyle said residents have complained of being underserved. He’s also made it a priority to communicate not only with his own deputies but with citizens and other law enforcement agencies alike.

Those goals for his four-year tenure will be combined with his experiences in every department in the LCSO and his four years as undersheriff to make him become what he hopes will be an effective sheriff.

“It’s given me an insight in the budget and how it works and some of the obstacles we’ve got to get over,” Doyle said of his experiences as undersheriff. “It’s helped for sure.”

Doyle is married and has two children. He was born in Polson and has lived in the Mission Valley all his life. That background makes serving the community he lives in all the more rewarding.

“Everybody’s friendly and they want to help out, and that’s what I love about living here,” Doyle said. “It’s a small community and seems like everybody knows everybody. I think the community members are more apt to get involved due to the small community atmosphere.”