SUPERIOR — The former Spokane County Sheriff and current Western Wyoming Community College Trustee Ozzie Knezovich is running to be the next Sweetwater County Sheriff. 

Knezovich, a Republican, served four terms as the sheriff of Spokane County, Washington. He was originally born and raised in Superior, having graduated from Rock Springs High School and later attending the University of Wyoming and Weber State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Integrated Studies in Management, Marketing, and Criminal Justice degree. He later attended the University of San Diego and earned a Master of Science in Law Enforcement and Public Safety Management degree.

Knezovich served in the Army and Wyoming National Guard and started his law enforcement career as the Superior town marshal in 1990. He joined the Rock Springs Police Department a year later, serving as a patrol officer and the department’s first school resource officer.

Knezovich and his wife left Wyoming in 1995, which led them to Spokane County. Knezovich joined the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office in 1996, working as a patrol deputy, field training deputy, property and sex crimes detective, SWAT team supervisor, patrol sergeant, and training sergeant. 

In 2006, Knezovich was appointed the Spokane County Sheriff by the Spokane County Board of County Commissioners, and was later elected to the position by voters. Knezovich served on numerous boards, as well as state and national associations, including being the president of the Washington Sheriffs’ and Police Chiefs’ Association, the Homeland Security Intelligence and Technology Committee co-chair, and the Washington State Training Commission’s Basic Law Enforcement Standards and Training executive board member and chair. He also was an executive board member and president of the FBI-Law Enforcement Executive Development Association and served on several community outreach boards.

Knezovich retired from the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office Dec. 31, 2022 and moved back to Sweetwater County. He is the volunteer Public Safety Director and Chief of Police for Superior and was elected to the Western Wyoming Community College Board of Trustees in 2024.

Addressing why he is stepping away from retirement, Knezovich said he knows the challenges the county and country itself face and refuses to “sit quietly while our values, our safety, and our way of life are threatened.”

“As sheriff, I consistently stood against policies I believed violated the Constitution, undermined public safety, or harmed the people,” he said in his campaign announcement. “I have fought against the Marxist policies and ideologies that are threatening the fabric of our society down to our core values. In 2020, I led a multiagency response that quickly quelled a riot on the streets of Spokane fueled by Antifa and Democratic Socialist groups. We took our streets back in less than eight hours making it clear we were not Seattle, Portland, or Minneapolis.”

He also challenged an attempt by the Spokane City Council to stop Wyoming coal and oil trains from coming through the city by implementing a $261 fine per train car that passed through the city. 

“I stated at the time, ‘It’s unconstitutional. It’s an illegal law. I have a duty to stand up against it, and I will,’” he said.

Knezovich said he looks forward to serving Sweetwater County’s residents as its next sheriff and working to make its communities the greatest places to live, work, and raise a family.