Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers spoke at the Tonasket Chamber of Commerce meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 14, stating that he has nothing to hide. Photo by Emily Hanson

TONASKET – Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers spoke at the regular Tonasket Chamber of Commerce meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 14, stating that he has nothing to hide.

He began his speech to the chamber by talking about his family life. Rogers said he has been married to his wife, Minette, whom he met in high school, for 32 years. They have two children and five grandchildren. The Rogers family moved to Okanogan in December 1983 and he worked for the Omak Police Department. In 2002, Rogers was elected sheriff and has held the position since.

“I’m proud of what we’ve done with the sheriff’s department,” Rogers said. “The men and women in the department have a ton of great ideas.”

Rogers said he runs the department with two main rules.

“You have to have fun and enjoy your job or it’ll kill you,” he said. “Second, the department works for you, not for itself.”

During Rogers’ career as sheriff, he said the department has brought in $21 million into the county through grants and fundraising to run their special department programs. Despite having a budget of $3.5 million, with $2.9 million going to salaries and benefits, the department has never been over-budget with Rogers as sheriff and in fact returns between $70,000 and $150,000 to the county each year.

“I’m not going to sit around and whine,” he said. “You make do with what you’ve got. I’m open with the press and anyone with questions. I’ve got nothing to hide.”

Sheriff candidate Dave Yarnell will be speaking at the Tuesday, Sept. 28 meeting along with Okanogan County Clerk candidate Charlene Groomes.