Douglas County Sheriff Rick Trapp has decided not to run for a second, four-year term. Trapp, a Republican, was elected in 2000, succeeding Loren Anderson, who retired.

Douglas County Sheriff Rick Trapp, who was elected in 2000, has decided not to run for a second term.

Trapp, 56, made the announcement this morning to reporters at a press briefing. He said his decision was based mainly on personal reasons.

“I believe that now it is best to move on to something else. What that is, I do not know,” Trapp said.

Trapp has accumulated a variety of law enforcement experience during his 37-year career.

He started in law enforcement in 1967 at the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department. He worked first as a dispatcher, then as a patrolman while studying at Kansas University.

He got his law degree from KU in 1975, and went straight from graduation to the FBI, where he spent the next 10 years with postings in Dallas, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Kansas City.

From 1985 to 2000, Trapp was in the Douglas County District Attorney’s office, first as a drug prosecutor, and then as the No. 2 person in the department.

During the 2000 election, Trapp beat Ron Wilson, a political independent.

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