Chief Deputy Rick Henry bids Teton County goodbye
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DRIGGS — Two Teton County Sheriff personnel are becoming sheriffs themselves in neighboring counties this coming year.
One of them is Chief Deputy Rick Henry, who will be the next sheriff of Madison County.
“I came over to Teton in 2008,” he said. “I was here just a couple months before Sheriff Liford came in. He appointed me to be his chief deputy at that time. After about 10 years of being a chief deputy, I figured I might as well run for sheriff.”
Henry hails from Pocatello, where he started his police career.
“I started with Pocatello PD back in 1991—25 plus years ago,” he said. “It was good there. It was a lot faster pace. It can be pretty rough, especially when the lights go out at nighttime.”
In the late nineties, Henry made the move up to Fremont County, where his wife is from. He lives in Rexburg, where he has commuted to work in Teton County.
“It worked out for us, because we have so many prisoners housed in Madison County Jail,” he said. “I was able to just pick prisoners up in the morning and bring them in for court.”
Teton County Sheriff Tony Liford says Henry will be missed.
“It’s been great having an experienced guy… He’s always been a loyal and intelligent part of the office,” he said. “He was someone I came to bounce things off of, and get advice on in certain things because he’s not a yes-man, which I can’t stand… I’m certainly thrilled for him that he’s going to be sheriff over in Madison.”
The feeling is mutual, according to Henry.
“Sheriff Liford has just been awesome,” said Henry. “I’ve been impressed. He’s a good sheriff and a good friend. He’ll still be just across the border. We’ll still be connected, so that’s good.”
Henry added that he would miss the sheriff’s department staff.
“I think the thing that sticks out to me is the quality of the guys, we’ve had some great guys here,” he said. “That’s what I’ll miss. Plus, where can you go to get the beauty here?”
This article was originally published by the Teton Valley News. It is used here with permission.