Sean C. Morgan
After 10 years, Sheriff Tim Mueller of Sodaville retired Dec. 31, passing the torch to Undersheriff Bruce Riley.
“I’ve been retired, gosh, just under a week,” Mueller said late last week. “It feels like an extra long weekend.”
After nearly 30 years at the Sheriff’s Office, Mueller is looking forward to some traveling and hunting, but he’s also been approached about consulting and teaching, he said. If he does some consulting and teaching, it won’t be a full-time job.
Mueller came to the department through the Sheriff’s Mounted Posse, volunteering in September 1983. He was sworn in as a deputy on May 8, 1984.
After leaving the Army, jobs were scarce, and he was thinking about moving to Texas or going back into the Army looking for a job in law enforcement, Mueller said. Undersheriff Art Martinak called Mueller.
Martinak was a pretty good horse trader, and he talked Mueller into working at the jail, Mueller said.
He discovered that he liked working in the jail, and “it was a good career,” he said. “It was a great place to work, still is.”
There were rough times, like everywhere else, but the good outweighed the bad, Mueller said. The employees are dedicated to their work.
“They sure aren’t there for the money,” Mueller said. They could go several places nearby and make more. “They were there for the right reasons.”
Mueller said he will miss the people, the relationships and the community.
He didn’t care for the politics outside the office, he said. “My job was to take care of Linn County citizens, and I did my job the best I could.”
Mueller gained national notice when he wrote a letter last year to Vice President Joe Biden warning that the Sheriff’s Office would not enforce unconstitutional restrictions on the right to bear arms.
“I’m not sure it was the most important thing,” Mueller said. “I didn’t see it coming. All I wanted was some local attention, to let people know where I stood.”
Mueller will remember most fondly his years working with Search and Rescue, helping build it into one of the most professional outfits, he said. He also will remember the cooperation among area law enforcement agencies to help clean up the meth problem in Linn County.
Taxpayers don’t care about the color of the uniform or the shape of the badge when it comes to getting the job done, he said, and that’s why the Sheriff’s Office has enjoyed an 80-percent approval rating among Linn County citizens.
Mueller believes Riley is a good successor.
“Bruce Riley is a guy with no hidden agendas,” Mueller said. “What you see is what you get with that guy. He’ll do a good job.”
They worked together for more than 26 years, Mueller said. When Riley was in the reserves, Mueller would tell him he needed to come work for a living, and Riley finally put in for the job.
“We’ve been very good friends for a very long time,” Mueller said.