Incumbent Sheriff Tom Boyer Announces Bid to Run For Office Again in 2022

Incumbent Sheriff Tom Boyer has announced he will run for Sheriff during the 2022 election.

As we enter 2022, I am pleased to say I will be running for a second term as your County Sheriff and Coroner," Boyer said in a press release. "Thank you for the trust you have placed in me and thank you for trusting me with the future of law enforcement in Valley County." 

Boyer added he is "honored to serve as your elected Sheriff of Valley County," Boyer said in a press release. "Over the past three years, we have made tremendous strides in our office. I am genuinely excited about our current group of sworn and non-sworn employees and feel that we are in a great position moving forward. I am grateful to serve alongside the best group of individuals Montana has to offer."

Boyer said he will continue to serve the residents of Valley County to the best of his abilities.

"One thing that will not change is my commitment to serving you, the people of this county. I have taken an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution and Constitution of the state of Montana. I will continue to be an administrator who diligently strives to build up this team, treat all people equally, maintain fiscal responsibility, and work to maintain this office as something you can be proud of."

Boyer, is originally from Missoula, and said, as a young man, he had intended to pursue law enforcement, inspired by a law enforcement officer with the Missoula Police Department, but that his father encouraged him to seek other paths.

"Basically my dad said, 'No way,' and instead I went to nursing school," Boyer previously told The Courier.

Boyer completed a degree at Missoula College and went on to become a licensed practical nurse. He would eventually come to work at St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula on the surgical orthopedics ward before taking on a job as a clinician for a medical supply company, working his way up to general manager.

Following a series of random jobs working as a salesman and doing background investigations, and back to medical supply, Boyer moved out east to Glasgow to work for an underground utility locating company in the Baaken Oil Fields.

Boyer said he then moved back to Missoula to be closer to his daughters, but would return to Glasgow to be with his now wife, Annette (Fassett) Boyer. That move led to his pursuit of his adolescent dream to become a law enforcement officer, and he submitted an application for a sheriff deputy slot. That application would actually land him a job working in the county detention center before getting the opportunity to apply for a deputy spot a number of months later.

In January 2017, he was hired as a deputy and attended the Montana Law Enforcement Academy shortly thereafter.

Boyer beat out Joe Horn during the last candidacy. No official opponents have come out against Boyer so far for the upcoming election.

As part of his efforts to bring the sheriff's department into the 21st Century, Boyer spearheaded efforts to cross deputize six deputies so they could make arrests on the Fort Peck Reservation.

The deputies trained with Chief of Police Jim Summers of the Fort Peck Tribal Law and Justice Office. Training was conducted at the Valley County Courthouse. The presentation included four hours of cultural sensitivity, case law and a history of Assiniboine and Sioux culture.

One Third of the Fort Peck Reservation is found in Valley County. There are two small towns on the western edge of the reservation, Oswego and Frazer.

There is a population of approximately 400 people in these towns and a school in Frazer that supports kindergarten through high school seniors.