SUPERIOR — Ozzie Knezovich can’t run for governor.

The current member of Western Wyoming Community College’s Board of Trustees and the former Sheriff of Spokane County, Washington missed the residency requirement for his gubernatorial bid by about one year. He will have to wait for 2030 to become a candidate. Under Wyoming election laws, a candidate for governor must have at least five years of continuous residency in Wyoming to qualify.

“Even though we have owned a house/property in Wyoming for (nine) years now, born and raised here, went to the University of Wyoming, 36 combined years of living here, served in the Wyoming National Guard, I don’t qualify to be (governor,)” Knezovich wrote in a message to SweetwaterNOW.

Knezovich, a native of Sweetwater County, announced his campaign to be Wyoming’s next governor earlier this week, joining Sen. Eric Barlow, Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder, and Brent Bien in a Republican primary race that will be decided in August. 

Knezovich moved back to Wyoming in 2023 following his decision to not seek re-election in Washington in 2022. He was appointed Sheriff of Spokane County in 2006 and ultimately won four elections to the position. Since returning to Sweetwater County, Knezovich has been active in a variety of roles. He serves as the volunteer director of public safety and chief of police for the Town of Superior and was elected to the Western’s board of trustees in 2024. 

Despite his position on the college board, he also expressed interest in serving as a Sweetwater County School District No. 1 trustee, being an unsuccessful candidate for an opening created when Cole Seppie resigned from the school board last year. Knezovich was also selected to be undersheriff under Dwane Pacheco during Pacheco’s unsuccessful campaign for Sweetwater County Sheriff in 2022.