TWIN FALLS, Idaho — The Twin Falls County Sheriff’s Office has officially entered a new era under the leadership of Sheriff Jack Johnson, who was sworn in on Monday. With decades of experience in law enforcement, Johnson is no stranger to the office he now leads.
“I’ll be quite honest with you, if you’re preying on our citizens in Twin Falls County, saddle your horse and leave, because we are gonna come after you,” Johnson told Idaho News 6, days before being sworn in.
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Johnson began his law enforcement career with the Twin Falls Sheriff’s Office in 1985, where he spent 25 years working his way up through the ranks to positions such as deputy, corporal, sergeant, staff sergeant, and lieutenant.
More recently, Johnson served eight years as county commissioner, gaining insights into key issues such as overcrowding in the jail and the impact of population growth on crime rates. He has ideas he'd like to bring to the office and is ready to get to work.
“I really want to see us develop a program where we’re cracking down on drugs harder in our communities,” Johnson said. “I always look at efficiency. I’ve learned that as a county commissioner, and can we be efficient? We may shift manpower too if we need to do a better job in that area.”
Collaboration with other first responder agencies, including the Twin Falls City Police, will be a cornerstone of Johnson’s approach. “None of us have the full capabilities to do everything all the time,” he explained, adding that he plans to maintain and strengthen existing partnerships.
Additionally, the new sheriff emphasized the importance of working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) regarding the anticipated arrest and deportation of criminals.
“We’ll do everything we can to help immigration out if we have criminal illegals here. We don’t want those folks in our community either,” Johnson said.
Johnson said he didn't foresee any staffing shake-ups, and said the executive team in the Sheriff's Office was doing great work.
“If you're a criminal, just leave our county and save us the trouble of hunting you down,” he said.
