By Shannon Lukens.
Courtesy photo
Routt County Sheriff Doug Scherar is the new sheriff in town, after being elected in November, and sworn in two weeks ago.
“The past two weeks have been a whirlwind. Lot of work. We’ve been really busy. It’s been a little overwhelming but it feels really good. I didn’t imagine myself in this position 27 years ago. I feel very honored that the citizens have chosen me to be the sheriff.”
Sheriff Scherar says he’s grateful for an easy transition from Sheriff Garrett Wiggins who is now the Routt County Jail Administrator. Scherar had served as Undersheriff for the previous five years. He has also been a patrol lieutenant and patrol sergeant with the Routt County Sheriff’s Office.
“The whole transition has been very smooth. People have been very relaxed and very optimistic and there hasn’t been any tension like there could be in departments that might not have such a smooth transition.”
One thing that has helped is the hiring of Undersheriff Josh Carrell who was raised in Steamboat Springs and was with the police department for 16 years. More recently, he has been with the 7th Judicial District Attorney’s office in Delta, where he worked for five years.
“It’s a dream opportunity for me to come back to the community I was born and raised in and serve the community that helped me out so much, and bring my family back to be close to Grandpa and Grandma and enjoy this time here and in Steamboat and the beautiful place that it is.”
Sheriff Scherar says he’s happy Carrell and his family are moving back to Steamboat Springs because Carrell and his family have been longtime members of the community.
“The transition over the last few weeks has been very smooth. It’s been very great having Josh Carrell join our team as the Undersheriff. He came with very strong ties to the community. He’s very community oriented. He sat on a lot of boards such as Integrated Community, Partners in Routt County, and Advocates. So it’s really great having somebody who is community oriented.”
Undersheriff Carrell started Jan. 10. Both he and Sheriff Scherar were in Loveland last week for the Winter Conference for County Sheriffs of Colorado.