The Race Is On For The Next Sheriff Of Crow Wing County

Crow Wing County Sheriff Todd Dahl is retiring this year, and the race to take his place is on. The election consists of three candidates who are campaigning to make it past the August 14th primary.

“I started with the Breezy Point Police Department. Shortly thereafter, I went to the [Crow Wing County] Sheriff’s Office. A short stint back at Breezy Point and then back to the Sheriff’s Office,” said candidate Scott Goddard, who has served Crow Wing County for over 20 years.

Pat Pickar is a Brainerd High School graduate who went on to join the military in the Minnesota Army National Guard before joining the police force.

“I’ve been with the Sheriff’s Office for over twenty years, 22 total years of law enforcement. I’ve worked for Crosby Police Department and I also currently work for the Pequot Lakes Police Department and Cuyuna Police Department where I’m the Deputy Chief,” said Pickar.

Eric Klang is running for his old position – he previously served as Sheriff of Crow Wing County from 2003 to 2007.

“I’m the Police Chief up in Pequot Lakes right now, and I’ve helped that department become a better department and now I want to go back to the Sheriff’s Office,” explained Klang.

The candidates will be narrowed down to two on the August 14 primary and then voted on in the general election November 6. All candidates have many years of experience and have similar goals for the office, but their focuses vary.

“It’s just not about a sheriff being a big public figure. Let’s try to get our whole team at the Sheriff’s Office engaged and inspired to serve. You know, we’re very fortunate to have the relationships that we have with our community right now, and we have to really make sure we are trying to strengthen those relationships within our community,” added Pickar.

“It’s one of the things that the Sheriff’s Office doesn’t do very well is that community policing piece. They take a call up in Jenkins and then run all the way down to Garrison, so they can’t build relationships with people, and that’s one of the things I want to make sure that we are doing is building relationships with people so they trust us,” explained Klang. “People don’t care what you know until they know that you care.”

“My focus as the Sheriff of Crow Wing County is continue our collaboration that we have with all of our entities, social services, our courts, our health department,” added Goddard. “Really trying to drive home the point that this is not just a one-person show or a one-department show.”

Though the race has been tight, we will have to wait until the August 14 primary to see who will make it on the ballot November 6th.

You can vote by mail or in person from June 29 through August 13 for the primary.