Wayne County’s lame-duck sheriff resigned without notice this month, leaving only a letter on an office manager’s desk and the county scrambling to replace him before his opponent inevitably takes office after the November election.
Dan Jensen, who became sheriff four years ago, wrote in the letter dated Oct. 16 but discovered Oct. 20 that he has “greatly enjoyed” his time at the department and learned skills that he “will certainly take with [him] throughout [his] career.” He also promised to “do everything possible to wrap up my duties and train other teams member over the next week.”
But an addendum at the bottom of the letter noted that “no employee of Wayne County Sheriff’s Office was informed of this resignation.” It added that as of Oct. 21, employees “still have not been spoken to or informed of this decision,” and that Jensen never turned over “passwords or any other communication for transfer of position.”
As of Friday evening, Jensen did not return a call seeking comment.
A buzzing tourist area with few officers
County clerk Ryan Torgerson confirmed the veracity of the letter obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune. He said the county commission began the process of appointing an interim sheriff during their meeting Monday, Oct. 24.
In the meantime, Torgerson said Chief Deputy Ernest Robinson was named the temporary manager of the sheriff’s office. Since Jensen is a Republican, the Republican Party will choose who to appoint in his absence. The party has 30 days to name their pick, which Wayne County commissioners must approve.
Jensen’s sudden departure left the already small sheriff’s department short-staffed. Torgerson said prior to Jensen’s resignation, the sheriff and four deputies patrolled the sparsely populated 2,486-square mile county situated south of Interstate 70 but north of Glen Canyon Recreation Area, containing parts of both Capitol Reef and Canyonlands national parks.
During the Monday commission meeting, officials discussed the department’s staffing following the hole Jensen left.
Deputy Micah Gulley, who won the Republican sheriff primary and is running unopposed in the general election, told commissioners he didn’t care who was appointed before he likely became sheriff — he just wanted whoever it was to work with the team.
Policing in Wayne County is difficult with so few employees, Gulley said. Even before Jensen left, there was often just one officer on-duty. He said that’s not enough.
“We have meth. We have DUIs. We have theft. We have sexual assaults. We have everything that everybody else has. It’s just the frequency is a lot smaller because the population density is smaller, but,” he said, “it’s getting bigger. That’s part of the issue.”
Tourism in what’s known as “Capitol Reef country” — with its vast and rugged sandstone landscapes and high-altitude forests with plentiful lakes for fishing — has also boomed over the last two decades, he said. Summers are especially busy.
Gulley said he is running for sheriff to fix those staffing issues by applying for grants and advocating for towns within the county to pay more taxes toward operating the sheriff’s office.
“But then when you’re that many people short, [Jensen leaving] just makes it that much worse,” he said, “but we’ll get through it.”
He said deputies have been pulling doubles and working extra shifts to make up the difference.
An ‘inappropriate’ way to resign
At Monday’s commission meeting, officials agreed to rehire a former deputy who left the department previously.
Gulley said hiring that deputy would be faster than hiring someone without experience who would need to go through the lengthy process of getting their state police certification and necessary field trainings.
Commissioners also motioned to amend county policy to allow hires who haven’t had a DUI in the last five years or any other alcohol-related conviction, like being cited for open container, to drive county vehicles. It previously barred individuals with such convictions forever. Officials said they would ratify the change at their next meeting.
Neither Torgerson nor Gulley said they knew why Jensen left, although they said one could assume it was related to losing the primary election.
Gulley said he doesn’t have a problem with Jensen resigning, or with him as a person, but he does take issue with how the former sheriff left.
“I understand people not being in a good mood or not being happy about results and outcomes, but to leave in that manner,” Gulley said, “I thought that was inappropriate. I didn’t think it was very professional. It kind of left us in a bad spot.”
Gulley said he hasn’t spoken to Jensen since he learned of his old boss’s resignation, but said Jensen had since spoken with the Robinson, the chief deputy, about returning his equipment and transferring access to work accounts.
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