Two longtime members of the Wright County Sheriff’s Office are looking to lead their department into the next decade, following the footsteps of retiring Sheriff Joe Hagerty.
Sean Deringer and Mike Kaczmarek have nearly 50 years of experience in Wright County, working in nearly every facet of the department that serves what is, perennially, the fastest growing county in Minnesota.
The two men emerged as winners in an August primary, and will go head-to-head in the Tuesday, Nov. 6 election.
Here’s a look at these two candidates.
Sean Deringer
A North Dakota native, Deringer and his wife and family reside in the Maple Lake area. He’s been serving the Wright County area since 1996, when he started with the Buffalo Police Department. He joined the WCSO in 1997 and hasn’t looked back. For 21 year, Deringer has served in nearly every capacity in the department, from Patrol Captain to Criminal Investigation Lieutenant. He currently serves as Captain for the department.
“We need to aggressively enforce our current drug laws and advocate for enhanced penalties on dealers. During my time as the Criminal Investigations Division Lieutenant, I advocated for the sharing of information between our Narcotics Investigators and our Detectives. By bringing them together, there was no surprise that often times, they had information on the same people, organizations and households. By coming together and sharing this information, we were and continue to be in a better position to bring these people to justice. I do not feel that we are going to enforce or legislate our drug problem away, I believe that educating our young people has got to be part of our long-term solution in Wright County.”
Complete voter profile at SeanDeringer.com
Mike Kaczmarek
Lifelong Wright County resident Mike Kaczmarek has been with the Wright County Sheriff’s Office for more than two decades. His focus, he said, will be on retention of the great deputies and staff at the sheriff’s office, which he feels has seen far too much turnover, at a cost to taxpayers.
Kaczmarek has served as a patrol officer for 25 years. He’s also a 15-year member of the field training officer group.
“As Sheriff, I would take turnover in our department personally. I would make immediate changes addressing scheduling, equipment, training and overall employee morale. Each time the Wright County Sheriff’s Office loses a deputy, we lose valuable experience that takes time to replace. We cannot afford to continue to simply be a training ground for deputies, only to lose them to other agencies.”
Complete voter profile at LikeMikeForSheriff.com