LA CROSSE ? Jack Mendenhall’s job as Rush County sheriff began so long ago that Miranda rights for suspected lawbreakers hadn’t even been born, he said.

June 1 marked 41 years he’s worn the gold badge that gleams on the front of his sky-blue uniform — and identifies Mendenhall as the top law enforcement in this western Kansas county that’s home to 3,500 people.

“It’s been a good life,” Mendenhall said as he settled behind a well-worn desk and sorted the day’s mail. “It’s rewarding, but there have been times when it was tough,” he said.

The dark days came with working traffic and aircraft fatalities.

“When it’s someone I know, it’s awful, terrible,” he said. “And I pretty well know everybody.”

That’s because he was born and raised here, and he’s never left Rush County. Still in office after four decades, Mendenhall holds the record among Kansas sheriffs in office, he said.

Keeping the peace

His longevity comes from keeping the peace so well, said Leroy Penka and Terry Faust. Penka is La Crosse Police chief and Faust serves as city manager — they’re both Rush County natives, too. The two thought hard, but said they’re hard-pressed to come up with any disadvantages connected to a man staying in office so long.

“He knows everybody and he gets along,” Faust said. “He’s kept at least 51 percent of the people happy.”

Rush County Sheriff Jack Mendenhall sorts through his daily mail in the same building he's worked in for four decades. Mendenhall plans to finish out his term in this western Kansas county of 3,500 residents and retire in 2005 at age 65.

But it’s sometimes difficult to maintain a relationship with people and do your job, Penka said.

“After a while you know who your friends are,” he said. “The loyal ones will stick with you to the end.”

“Twelve years is an average for sheriffs who are doing good, with fewer years for some others,” Rice County Sheriff Steve Bundy said. “A record of 40 years is just incredible in this profession.

“He’s a superb sheriff, and the people in Rush County recognize that,” Bundy said. “He’s served them for a long time.”

As Mendenhall ripped open the bill for a jail inmate’s medical treatment and grimaced at the bottom line, he talked about starting out as sheriff with no law enforcement training. He was a truck driver when the county Republican Party drafted him to serve out the term of a retiring sheriff.

As expected, Kansas Gov. John Anderson confirmed his nomination. In those days, by law, Kansas sheriffs could serve only two consecutive two-year terms. When his term ran out, Sharon, his wife, ran for the job and won the election. At age 21, she was the youngest sheriff in the United States, Mendenhall said.

“She was elected, but I did all the work,” he said, adding an easy smile.

41 years in office

The law changed; he ran, the voters returned him to office and he’s kept on winning. Now and then there’s been token opposition from folks who had “a pet peeve,” with no serious contender in any election, he said. But then, Rush County is mostly Republicans.

In those early days, the sheriff and his family lived in the jail — his family’s former living room, with its wood-paneled walls, is now his office. When its jail no longer met federal and state regulations, Rush County started farming out its prisoners to neighboring counties.

From the beginning, as a one-man department, his goal was to help people make the county’s 750 square miles a safer place to live. The department’s grown to four people, including himself, and they maintain law and order in seven of the eight incorporated towns in the county.

In the little towns, it’s mostly problems with neighbors and dogs, plus the domestics that come because of financial problems and alcohol, Mendenhall said.

In 41 years, there have been three homicides in the county and all were solved. The rescue of a 6-year-old girl who was kidnapped in nearby Pawnee County tops his “most rewarding” scenario.

“I watched the news on TV all day,” he said. “We caught the guy the following day. When I pulled that little girl out of the pickup she got hold of me and wouldn’t turn loose. That makes you feel good.”

A law officer never knows what’s going to happen, he said. There have been plenty of close calls over the years, probably some he doesn’t even know about.

“But I’d rather meet an old convict with a gun than a young guy strung out on drugs,” he said. “You can make something so simple as a traffic stop, and they could jump out and shoot you.”