After 30 years as sheriff, this official not ready to retire

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) - How many Western movies end with the sheriff riding off into the sunset, his job finished after justice has been served?

Retiring Plymouth County Sheriff Mike Van Otterloo isn’t planning that type of sunset ride.

Instead, the longest-serving sheriff in the county’s history will pull up to the courthouse on Monday and take a seat on the Plymouth County Board of Supervisors.

“I want to stay in touch with the people, and this is a way to do it,” said Van Otterloo, whose 30-year career as sheriff ends Thursday.

Appointed in 1990 to complete the term of Dave Stock, who had resigned, Van Otterloo announced in February he would be retiring as sheriff, then announced his candidacy for the District 2 seat on the county board. Running unopposed as a Republican, Van Otterloo was elected in November.

“Surely there were a few out there that said, ‘Gosh, I thought we were going to get rid of him,’” he told the Sioux City Journal with a laugh.

Van Otterloo was ready to leave office, but not ready to leave county government.

He’s 66, and his wife, Elaine, will retire from her teaching job at the end of the current school year. They want to enjoy their retirement together, Van Otterloo said, but he also wanted to stay involved in Plymouth County affairs, just not on a full-time basis.

The county board seat fit his desire for a part-time role. Weekly board meetings and other committee assignments will, at times, make it feel like a full-time job, he said, but he doesn’t anticipate receiving emergency phone calls at 2 o’clock in the morning from someone wanting more gravel on their road.

“I know there will be some headaches. In light of early morning calls and death investigations, I can’t imagine the headaches will be quite as big. There will be some tough decisions, and I’m up for that,” he said.

Van Otterloo began considering serving on the county board around four or six years ago and spoke with current District 2 supervisor Mark Loutsch about it. Van Otterloo didn’t want to run against him, so when Loutsch ran for re-election four years ago, Van Otterloo decided to stick around as sheriff for another term. When Loutsch let him know he wasn’t running for another term in 2020, Van Otterloo was ready to hang up his sheriff’s hat.

“Thirty years is a long time, and I felt it was time to go. This business has changed a lot in 30 years. The new generation of deputies and officers are more tech-savvy than I am,” he said, joking that he’s still trying to figure out how to write a speeding ticking on a laptop computer.

He won’t have to worry about writing tickets as a county board member, and he thinks the transition will be eased by his previous 30 years as a department head. He’s familiar with the budgeting process, having been before the board to present his own department’s budget all those years.

Van Otterloo said he’s told the incoming sheriff, Jeff TeBrink, that he won’t be micromanaging the sheriff’s budget as if he were still in charge. He also knows the other elected officials and many of the county employees pretty well and doesn’t feel the need to come onto the board and push for a bunch of changes just to shake things up.

“I want to just continue in a smaller way to be effective in county government,” he said.

For the past 30 years, Van Otterloo oversaw big changes such as the construction of a new Law Enforcement Center in 2003 and was involved in big murder cases. What he remembers just as well are the quieter times when someone came into his office to confide in him.

“I’ve shed many tears in my office,” he said.

He said his faith helped him through his 30 years in office, often thinking of a favorite Bible verse reminding him to be just, be merciful and be humble.

Van Otterloo laughed when asked if he’ll put in another 30 years in elected office. He’ll take his county board service four years at a time, he said.

The sun’s not setting on his service to Plymouth County just yet.