Sheriff Rigby is in the fourth year of his first term as the highest-ranking elected county law enforcement official. He says as he prepares to begin another term, public safety is his top priority, and he wants to be proactive in promoting that.
“Our overall message is that we want to help and that there’s a number of ways that we can help,” Rigby says. “We’re willing to come to your house, to your business, to your school, on the field, wherever it is. So, if you have an idea that we might be able to help you, your children, your classroom or your business, we’d love to hear it.”
Since he’s been in charge, he says a focus has been collaborating with other agencies, including Heber City Police.
He touts bringing school resource officers to each campus in the county as a main accomplishment of his first term, as well as an arrest warrant reduction program. That’s a system of communicating to people that they need to show up to court to resolve their cases before warrants are issued.
The Sheriff’s Office is responsible for enforcing the law in all of the county except for Heber City, where police have jurisdiction. Rigby oversees over 100 employees between the investigations, patrol and administrative departments, and the county jail. About a third of those employees are within their first three years.
A county resident for 25 years, he says the role of overseer in such a fast-growing area presents some challenges.
“There’s had to be discussions. Do we want to keep the same high level of service? Because it just becomes very difficult to provide the same level of service with so much growth,” Rigby says. “Thus far, the answer has been yes, of course we want to be doing the same level of service, and then trying to be careful and to be wise, to also add additional positions here and there when we can and when we can afford it.”
He says another focus is suicide prevention. Between his office and other law enforcement, he estimates there are between four and six calls a month regarding residents who harm themselves or threaten to do so.
“I think that we’ve got a good system and program down in Wasatch County, and at the same time, you can never be too confident that we’ve got it handled, and we just always continue to be willing to learn and be humble about the situation and trying to make progress together,” he says.
Rigby says other areas where he seeks to continue improving include public transparency, outreach to the Hispanic community and coordinating with people who want to volunteer.
Rigby’s one of several incumbent county officials running unopposed. Following the election in November, Rigby’s new term will begin next January.
