Sheriff Rodd Clark

The citizens of Crook County are our primary concern. Their well-being and safety must be the essence of our focus. It is, therefore, the mission of the Crook County Sheriff's Office to enhance the quality of life of citizens by reducing both crime and the fear of crime throughout Crook County.

It is the objective of the Crook County Sheriff's Office to provide an optimum level of service to the citizens of this county. It is, furthermore, the responsibility of this Office to reach beyond the typically reactive law enforcement role of protect and serve, reach beyond proactive law enforcement, and become coactive with the citizens of Crook County. In this role, we, as the members of the Sheriff's Office, will strive to improve the quality of life for the citizens of Crook County.

We seek to reduce not only crime itself but the fear of crime. We seek to fortify the public trust from which our authority is derived. We seek to be more accountable by allowing more public input into the ways in which our services are planned and provided. We seek to be more resourceful, imaginative, and aggressive in our approach to crime. By doing so, we encourage the public to become an involved partner.

As a public service agency, we will streamline and remove barriers that are typical of inaccessible bureaucracies. We will work with the community in obtaining assistance and resources from other agencies, both public and private. We shall provide a public service, and through that endeavor, establish the Sheriff's Office as a facilitator for quality of life issues - not just a provider of basic law enforcement service.

I personally welcome your input and insight on what your needs are as a community and your suggestions on how we can best serve these needs. If you would like to share information on a crime, neighborhood problem, or anything you feel requires law enforcement attention, you can send this information to ccso.records@psnet.us or write to308 NE 2nd Street, Prineville, Oregon 97754 or call (541)  447-6398. If you would like to contact me personally, you can E-mail me  at, ccso.sheriffclark@psnet.us.,or call me at (541) 416-3862.

The Crook County Sheriff's Office came into existence a few months after the county was formed from a portion of

 Wasco County in 1882.

As with most new counties law enforcement was one of the first services provided to meet the needs of the citizens and has remained a basic service provided by Crook County since the beginning of the county.

There have been 23 sheriffs in Crook County serving 26 terms of office since the initial sheriff took office. The incumbent Sheriff Rodd A. Clark has served the longest of any of the previous sheriffs.

There are two open time frames in Crook County’s history when there was not an official sheriff because something occurred to end a sheriff’s term early. The county’s governing body did not appoint anyone to interim sheriff as provided for by law during these times. The best we know the interim appointments did not happen either because of partisan politics in county government at those times or because no one was considered qualified.

The sheriffs are presented below in order of the way they served with the incumbent down to the very first:

1987-Present               (26^th)                Rodd A. Clark

10/1985-1987              Open                Undersheriff Howard Becker was acting Sheriff

2/1978-10/1985            (25^th)                Hobart “Tom” Thomas Lowe

1977-1978                   Open                Acting Sheriff is unknown

1975-1977                   (24^th)                Gary Stephens

1971-1975                   (23^rd)                Donald Lee Hanna

1959-1971                   (22^nd)               Joseph Thomas “Tex” King

1955-1959                   (21^st)                Jesse Raymond Wooldridge

1947-1955                   (20^th)                Ralph Leon Jordan

2/1938-1947                (19^th)                Reuben Henry Booton

6/1931-2/1938             (18^th)                Benjamin Barr Groff

1929-6/1931                (17^th)                William Sheldon “Billy” Ayers

1925-1929                   (16^th)                Stephen Woods Yancey

1921-1925                   (15^th)                Otis “Olie” Haland Olson

1919-1921                   (14^th)                John Combs

1915-1919                   (13^th)                Edward Baker “Bake” Knox

1913-1915                   (12^th)                Frank Elkins

1911-1913                   (11^th)                Thomas Nicolas Balfour

1906-1911                   (10^th)                Frank Elkins

1902-1906                   (9^th)                  Charles Samuel “C. Sam” Smith

1900 1902                   (8^th)                  William C. “Billy” Congleton

1896-1900                   (7^th)                  John Henry Gray

1894-1896                   (6^th)                  John Combs

1890-1894                   (5^th)                  William Andrew Booth

1888-1890                   (4^th)                  John Combs

1886-1888                   (3^rd)                  John Newton Williamson

1884-1886                   (2^nd)                 James M. Blakely

11/1882-1884              (1^st)                  George Henry Churchill