GREEN RIVER — It will be Rich Fischer, Richard Kaumo, and Ozzie Knezovich being considered to fill the remainder of former Sheriff John Grossnickle’s term.

The three were selected by ballots cast by members of the Sweetwater County GOP Saturday afternoon. Five candidates, all of whom are also running for the position in August’s Primary Election, were under consideration. Matthew Wharton and Amanda Buller joined Fischer, Kaumo and Knezovich in contention for the nominations. 

Of 53 ballots cast where members could choose up to three nominees, Fischer received 44 votes, while Kaumo had 36, Knezovich had 26, and both Buller and Wharton received 13. 

Prior to the vote, each candidate had a chance to speak for three minutes and introduce themselves. Sweetwater GOP Chairman Tony Niemiec followed those introductions with five questions focused on the candidates’ views on how they would manage diminishing funding, their views on the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office’s agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, how their handling of personnel issues would affect their candidacy, how they would face the challenge of employee recruitment and retention, and what they thought were the top three relationships that were important for a sheriff to maintain to promote the efficient operation of the SCSO.

All five candidates leaned on their experience in law enforcement when speaking to the group. Kaumo, Fischer, Buller and Wharton are employed with the sheriff’s office, while Knezovich is the former sheriff of Spokane County, Washington. 

Kaumo is the lieutenant of the county’s detention center, which consists of himself and 49 other employees. He has worked in law enforcement since 2006, having worked in various positions at the Sublette County Sheriff’s Office before being hired by the SCSO in 2015. 

Fischer has spent the last 17 and a half years working at the SCSO, with the last nine being in administration. Overall, he said he has 31 years of experience in law enforcement and emergency medical services, 28 of which were in Sweetwater County.

Knezovich is the volunteer public safety director and police chief for Superior and was appointed the Spokane County Sheriff in 2006, later winning elections to serve in that capacity until leaving office in 2022. He led an organization consisting of 650 employees with an operating budget of $56 million.

Buller has worked in law enforcement since 2014 and is the K-9 team leader for the SCSO. She works primarily in drug investigations and with the drug dogs. Her background is in patrol and emergency medical services. 

Wharton is a detective at the SCSO, who has been a lead investigator in situations involving death, child exploitation, and digital evidence. A Green River native, he has more than two decades of experience in law enforcement and has been a member of the Wyoming Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force since 2019.

The commissioners will speak with the candidates prior to their Tuesday meeting, where they intend to appoint Grossnickle’s successor. District Court Judge Clark Stith’s robing ceremony will delay the commissioners’ meeting, causing it to start at 10 a.m. The person appointed to be the county’s sheriff will serve until Jan. 4, 2027.

The nominations do not impact the upcoming election. The five candidates, along with Republican Randall Tryzbiak, will vie for the Republican nomination in August’s Primary Election. As there are no Democrats seeking election and as long as an independent candidate doesn’t complete the process to be placed on the November ballot, the Primary will determine who the next sheriff will be.