There are things Ben Wolfinger will not miss now that he is no longer Kootenai County sheriff.

Things like arguing over budgets, the politics that come with the job, and the middle-of-the-night phone calls.

“It’s never good news,” he said of those calls. “They never are.”

The 59-year-old had worked for the KCSO since April 1, 1983. That’s more than 37 years as a crime fighter and more than half his life. He’s held pretty much every job there is with KCSO. He’s been shot at and returned fire. He’s made arrests, nabbed drunken drivers, figured out whodunnits, and investigated homicides. He’s been a bearer of good news and bad.

During his final day on Thursday, he left with mixed emotions, because perhaps more than anything, he will miss the people.

“You build relationships,” he said. “It’s another family here and I’ll miss that."

Wolfinger was easily elected sheriff in 2012 (he got 72% of the vote) and even easier in 2016 (this time, 81%). He opted not to run in 2020.

“The campaigns are hard on my family. They really are,” he said. “The last one was just kind of ugly.”

It’s not like he needs the money, and being sheriff never was about money.

“I’ve been here because I wanted to be here,” he added.

His retirement, financially, is secure. And frankly, he’s got better things to do, like spent time with wife Mary and four grandchildren.

“Family first. I’ve always said that. Family first,” he said.

Wolfinger said retirement — in his last year he oversaw about 320 employees and a budget of more than $30 million — “is a good feeling.”

“I look at these guys who work until they’re 70 or something, and what’s the point? I mean, really, what’s the point?"

Wolfinger grew up in Wallace and is a 1979 Wallace High graduate. He got his start in law enforcement at the urging of a friend, who told Wolfinger reserves were needed.

At the time, Wolfinger was studying nursing at North Idaho College,

“I was a college student, so of course I needed extra money,” he said.

“I went up and met the chief. He looked at me and said, ‘I think you’re too small, but I need a dispatcher on Friday and Saturday nights.’ And I said OK, so I started dispatch.”


He liked it and changed his major to law enforcement.

“The rest is history, as they say,” Wolfinger said.

One of the first things he did when he was elected sheriff in 2012 was to attend meetings in Kootenai County’s smaller towns like Harrison and Bayview.

“I just wanted to hear what’s go on,” he said “People appreciated that, the fact that we listen and that we’re responding. “

The toughest part of being sheriff, he said, was separating the politics from the job.

“It’s a political office. You know that going into it. There’s no question about it,” he said. “But really the job of the sheriff is spelled out in code.

“The state Constitution says the duties of all the county elected officials shall be spelled out in code,” he said. “Take the politics away and just do the job as it’s supposed to be. That’s the safest thing to do. It’s the right thing to do. That serves the public best.”

Which is what he did and explains why he was elected twice by a wide margin.

Wolfinger worked on cases that received national attention.

He was the lead media person for the KCSO on the Joseph Duncan case in 2005. Duncan was convicted of killing three people at a Wolf Lodge Bay home, kidnapping two children, killing one and returning to Coeur d’Alene with the other, where she was rescued. Duncan is in prison.

“That was the most difficult case we’ve had here, probably ever," Wolfinger said. "It was hard on everybody who worked it."

He also worked on the Vern Henry case in 1996.

Henry was accused of shooting and killing his wife and daughter in their Athol home in 1996, then fleeing and leaving three small children unharmed.

“We found his car eventually, but he’s never been found,” Wolfinger said. “He’s somewhere out there. Those are people you would like to see brought to justice."

So what’s ahead?

“Being grandpa,” he said. “That’s important to me.”

And yes, some down time from a high-stress, demanding, time-consuming, very public job of constant phone calls and emails.

That’s when fly fishing on the St. Joe River, or another of his favorite haunts, came in handy. No cell service, leave the undersheriff in charge, and just go away.

“I think I just need some rest,” he said.

Wolfinger believes he has left Bob Norris, the county's new sheriff, a solid network of support.

“We have great professionals working here. I’ve got to tell you, I’ve been blessed by great staff,” he said. “I have been truly blessed by great people, and that’s made my job a while lot easier.’

Any advice for Norris?

“Rely on the experience of those who are here. They know the mistakes we’ve made and what roads we’ve been down. Rely on that experience so you don’t have to make the same mistakes I made.”

He is proud of the culture of service at the sheriff’s office.

“Sometimes, being good public servants means taking bad people to jail," he said. "No question. And we’re the people that do that. But sometimes it means having compassion and going that extra mile to help somebody.

“And I hear every week stories of deputies doing just that, just going that extra mile to help somebody out. When I get an email or a card in the mail about that, it means a lot."

Wolfinger, who was sent off by colleagues with a parade of sheriff's vehicles, flashing lights and honking horns, didn't hesitate when asked what he would like to say to Kootenai County.

“It’s been my privilege and my honor to work here and serve these people," he said.

Wolfinger values honor, trust and respect. He believes he earned them from the community. It goes back to that attitude of service, compassion, knowing what’s going on and listening to people.

“I think they respect the fact that I’ve tried to be a good servant,” he said. “I think that’s important. The sheriff has to have community trust or you’re ineffective."

He comes across as attentive, friendly, easy-going, perhaps not the hard-driving, intense person you might expect to be directing the county's law enforcement agency.

Is he as nice as he seems?

"I am a nice guy, I think," he said, laughing. "That’s my opinion. I don’t know. Ask the last guy I gave a ticket to."

Tickets. He gave those out, too.

As sheriff, he didn't just sit in his office, and handle paperwork. He drove an unmarked vehicle and when he saw wrongdoing, he stopped it.

He recently pulled over a driver after his car drifted across the road and almost hit another one.

“It turned out the car was stolen, everybody in the car was high, They were all high as kites, a bunch of juveniles," Wolfinger said.

He recently stopped a speeding driver and asked for license, registration and proof of insurance. The driver didn’t have registration or insurance.

“So you’re tell me you’re driving without insurance?” Wolfinger asked.

Yes, the man said.

He got a ticket.

"If something bad happens I’ll stop and deal with it," Wolfinger said. "That's who I am."

And you can bet, even when he's not the sheriff.