Skip to content
You are here: Home Area News Pope County Tribune & Starbuck Times Sheriff Larson Will Not Run For Re-election
Sheriff Larson Will Not Run For Re-election PDF Print E-mail
Pope County Tribune - Starbuck Times
Written by Zach Anderson - Starbuck Times New Editor   
Friday, 14 May 2010 06:55

After protecting and serving the area for 27 years, Pope County Sheriff Tom Larson recently announced that he will not run for re-election in November.


Larson, who turned 50 in March, said, "I'm old enough to retire, but still young enough to start a second career."

After serving as the local sheriff for 12 years, he'll hang up his hat this December.

When asked why he chose not to run again, with a very tender tone in his voice, he replied, "Well, I realized that I've very much neglected my family for [the sheriff's office] family. My youngest just turned 16 on Saturday, and I'd like to spend some time doing things with him," Larson said last week.

Path that led him here


Larson started his law enforcement career as a part-time police officer for the City of Glenwood. He graduated from Alexandria Technical College in 1983 and was then hired on full-time with the Glenwood Police Department.

He then met his wife, Linda, and she was headed to Texas for school. "I went with her thinking I could get my four-year degree down there, but six months in Texas was an eternity," Larson said with a laugh.

He returned to Pope County, helped farm on his in-laws' farm, and then ventured back to law enforcement in July of 1986 when he started working for the Pope County Sheriff's Office's water patrol.

In November of that year, he was hired on as a full-time deputy sheriff and has worked for PCSO ever since. He won the 1998 sheriff's election and took office in 1999.

"We've come a really long way," he said. "We started with three deputies and the sheriff. There were times I worked from Monday at 7 a.m. straight through to the following Monday at 7 a.m. by myself. Now, we have part-time deputies who can fill in so that our employees can enjoy some time off."

Advice to candidates


Filing for the position of sheriff officially opens Tuesday, May 18, and runs through June 1.

"I hope people run for the right reasons. This position is not about a pension, it's not about a title, it's not about yourself at all - it's about being selfless. If you're not in this to help the community, you're running for the wrong reasons," Larson said.

"This position requires you to juggle more balls than most people carry in a lifetime," he added. "If you think you can come in here and work a 40-hour work week, you're crazy."

Larson said that even after working for the sheriff's office 13 years before he became sheriff, he had a huge learning curve when he took over the position.

"To be sheriff, I really think it takes a background of working in the sheriff's office," he said. "All your energy will be consumed by the public, employees, and the tasks of the job. It's not an easy job - even in Pope County."

Most proud of


When asked what he was most proud of over his career, he said bringing the sheriff's office into the technology age and bringing up the number of PCSO staff to keep the office running at an efficient level.

But what he's most proud of: "Hiring people that made the sheriff's office what it is. If you don't have good people, you don't have much. We've hired some of the best people we could. I wouldn't trade any of them."

What's next?


First, Larson said he wants people to know he won't be an "absentee owner" for the next seven months. "I'll be sure to take care of what needs to be taken care of," he said. He'll keep working to establish the ARMER radio system and continue helping plan for the law enforcement center addition to the courthouse.

"The next seven months will go by really fast," he said.

Larson does have the option to stay with the sheriff's office to work as a deputy, but he's not sure that's what he'll do. In fact, he said he has several options - one of which is offering training for the new ARMER radio system, but most important to him, he'll spend time with family.

"The family takes the brunt of this position - this job has always come first," he said. "So, come January, family will come first, and I think they'll appreciate that."

Larson and his wife, Linda, have been married 22 years and they have four children: Jane Moss is 21, recently married and lives in Starbuck; Thomas is 20 and lives in Glenwood; Lauren, 18, is a senior and graduates this year; and Nathan, 16, is a 10th grader.