COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — Starting New Year's Day, Kootenai County Sheriff Ben Wolfinger will be out of a job for the first time in over 37 years.
The county's top lawman doesn't mind that, though. The longtime KCSO employee had previously announced that he wouldn't be seeking another term as sheriff and would be retiring.
"Pretty mixed," Wolfinger said of his emotions during his final month in office. "It's been a great career, but it's time to go. But it's all I've known, pretty much my entire adult life."
Wolfinger isn't kidding when he says that. The North Idaho native first started working for the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office as a detention deputy on April Fool's day in 1983.
"I was told I was too small," said Wolfinger of his treatment when he first started. "They didn't think I'd make it here. But I guess I fooled them because here I am almost 38 years later."
Prior to joining law enforcement, Wolfinger grew up in the Silver Valley and graduated from Wallace High School. His mother worked as a miner at the Lucky Friday Silver mine and Wolfinger's father was employed at an auto parts store.
After starting in the jail, Wolfinger appeared to never look back. Following 14 months of work in Kootenai County's then-condemned jail, Wolfinger transitioned to the streets as a patrol deputy. He then started working his way up the department's ranks. During that time, Wolfinger worked various cases ranging from murders to robberies. Wolfinger also worked for the sheriff's office while the agency dealt with the infamous white supremacist Richard Butler and the Aryan Nations.
More recently, COVID-19 threw his department a curveball.
"A pandemic was not on my radar. That was a bit of a challenge," he said.
During his years with KCSO, Wolfinger became a regular on the airwaves of the Inland Northwest. Prior to being elected sheriff in 2013, Wolfinger worked for years as the department's public information officer and provided interviews and quotes to local news outlets.
During the spring of 2005, however, Wolfinger found himself unexpectedly speaking with national news outlets during a now infamous Kootenai County case.
In May 2005, convicted sex offender Joseph Duncan killed members of the Groene family at their home outside of Coeur d'Alene before kidnapping then 8-year-old Shasta Groene and her brother Dylan, 9. The case sparked a weeks-long search effort and drew international attention.
"It was so intense during the time," recalled Wolfinger. "You just did what you had to do every day. Days were 16, 18 plus hours every day for six weeks."
KCSO fielded over 2,200 tips while Duncan was at large. During all of that, Wolfinger was tasked with providing updates to both local and national news outlets.
"I heard from people in England that they 'saw me on their local telly,'" said Wolfinger of the time.
Duncan was eventually spotted in Coeur d'Alene with Shasta and authorities later learned that Duncan had killed Dylan at an Idaho campsite. Duncan currently sits on federal death row.
While Wolfinger looks back on the Duncan case as an intense time of his career, the longtime sheriff's employee has several other memories. Notably, Wolfinger says he'll always look back on a routine day at the sheriff's office when a convicted drunk driver appeared at the jail to serve time.
"The guy stopped me and he said, 'You're deputy Wolfinger, right?' And I said, 'Yeah," said Wolfinger of the interaction. "And [the man] said, 'You arrested me a couple months ago.' And I said, 'Ok...' And he goes, 'You've changed my life. You've saved my life. I've quit drinking. You arrested me for DUI, but I'm done with it. And you've really saved my life.'"
The memory, Wolfinger says, serves as a reminder of the positive impact law enforcement officers can have on people. "That stuck with me all those years," he said.
As for his biggest accomplishment during his two terms as sheriff, Wolfinger said he's most proud of fostering a culture of civil service amongst his deputies.
"I think it's developing that attitude amongst the officers that they're good public servants," explained Wolfinger. "And that we're here to serve the public. I hear from people every day of how a deputy went out of their way to help them."
As for any regrets or things he would have done differently, Wolfinger said nothing came to mind right away.
"You have to move forward," he said.
In retrospect, though, the sheriff indicated he may have stayed in the lower ranks of his own department if given another chance.
"I probably would have stayed as a Sergeant in patrol a lot longer," Wolfinger said with a chuckle.
Amid a rising inmate population, Wolfinger also oversaw an expansion of Kootenai County's jail.
There's plenty that Wolfinger won't mind leaving behind when he retires, though.
"I won't miss the middle of the night phone calls, I won't miss the arguing with commissioners for budgets," he said. "I won't miss the politics of the office."
While some sheriffs in both the Inland Northwest and across the country have been known to make bold public statements or stir controversy, Wolfinger appeared to stay mostly out of the limelight during his time as Kootenai County's top lawman.
"I agree with that, but I think I'm the sheriff for everybody," said Wolfinger. "The duties of the sheriff according to the state constitution are spelled out in statute. And that means the legislature tells the sheriff what he's supposed to do. And it's not my personal opinion. My job here is to follow the law."
As for what Wolfinger will miss? His colleagues.
"I will miss the people. I will miss being part of something that's doing something good in the community," he said.
In November, Kootenai County voters picked Republican Bob Norris to follow in Wolfinger's footsteps. Norris had previously worked at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office and had retired in 2014. Norris had said that he wanted to get back into the law enforcement field and had been working with the Kootenai County's search and rescue team.
"Bob and I have had a lot of conversations," said Wolfinger of his successor.
His message to the incoming sheriff? Heed the advice of those around him.
"Rely on the experience of those still here in the office. For Bob coming from the outside, I think that's important," Wolfinger said. "There's years and decades of experience here. And understanding what we've tried and failed. That way, you don't have to repeat the mistakes of the past."
Wolfinger is also retiring during a time when Kootenai County's population has continued to grow. Since Wolfinger started with the department in the early 80s, the county's population has nearly tripled.
"There were a lot of areas outside of Athol and Spirit Lake that were just woods and now they're all housing developments," said Wolfinger.
When properly managed, however, Wolfinger feels that "growth is good." While the sheriff worries about the housing market and job prospects for people moving to North Idaho, he does note that local health infrastructure has improved greatly.
"We've really raised the bar on our healthcare in this area," he said.
The county's growing population has other benefits too, according to Wolfinger.
"I'm excited about some of the diversity in the community. That's a good thing," he said. "We need some diversity and understanding of each other."
While Wolfinger says that he's noticed a changing attitude towards law enforcement officers across the country, he is appreciative of the support his department receives in North Idaho.
"We're good servants and the people support us for that. I think it's a mutual relationship that works out real well," he said.
It's his interactions with his fellow North Idaho residents that he'll always look back on fondly, though, the sheriff said. As he heads into retirement, Wolfinger offered up gratitude for his two terms in office.
"It's been an honor and a pleasure to be here. I truly mean that. The community here has been awesome. And it's really been my privilege to serve them," he said.
On his first day of retirement, Wolfinger said he plans to relax and watch football. Come spring, he and his wife have plans to travel "COVID-willing" according to Wolfinger.