Meet Jon VanGesen
Candidate for Boundary County Sheriff
I am a Christian, husband, father, grandfather, community volunteer, and career law enforcement officer.
I have been married to my wife April, for nearly 30 years . We have 6 children and are raising our granddaughter. We live in Naples, on Fall Creek, with our three youngest children; Sierrah, Ema, Abigail and our granddaughter Tika. We also have three adult children, their spouses, two more grandkids and when we are all together it’s a full house! We adopted a sibling set of four sisters through foster care and have guardianship of our 4-year-old granddaughter. April says it best, "we made our first two babies and God gave us the other five to love and raise".
We are proud of our Idaho heritage, our families have been living in Idaho since the early 1900’s, homesteading in Gooding Idaho and on Carlin Bay on Lake Coeur d’Alene. The Bloomfield family Red Barn still stands on Carlin Bay. I am honored to raise my family in the Great State of Idaho where we respect and protect one another.
Growing up, my grandfather Richard Owen had a huge impact on my life. Dr. Owen was a professor at Puget Sound Christian College and taught biblical principles to his students and our family. Grandpa Owen led our family with a tremendous example of God’s grace and a servant’s heart.
Throughout my childhood and on into adulthood, it was his example that taught and inspired me to serve. As a five-year-old child, I met “Officer Friendly” in Kindergarten and knew I wanted to be a police officer. Like many kids, I saw police officers as superheroes, I still do. Between my grandfather and “Officer Friendly”, I knew from a young age that I wanted to serve and protect. Every day I am thankful that I have had the opportunity to live out my childhood dream.
For 29 years, I worked for the Kitsap County Sheriff's Office in Washington, where I held nearly every rank and supervised or managed most specialty units and divisions within the sheriff's office. I was a Patrol Deputy, Narcotics Detective, SWAT team operator & Commander, Sergeant (first level supervisor), Internal Affairs Investigator: Office of Professional Standards, Lieutenant (middle management, member of the Command Staff), and Acting Chief (member of the Executive Staff). I retired in 2020 with over 6,000 hours of training primarily focused on investigations, supervision, administration, and leadership.
Please see my EXPERIENCE page additional details
Since January 4th, 2021, I have been serving the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office. I was hired as a Patrol Deputy, promoted to Detective and served as Guild President. While assigned to Detectives, I investigated homicides, robberies, grand thefts, drug trafficking, arson, and cold cases. While Guild President, the guild brought back "Shop with a Cop" to North Idaho, providing a full Christmas experience for our communities’ children, including shopping for presents and meeting Santa. My current position is Lieutenant of Professional Standards. As Lieutenant, my responsibilities include oversight of the operations of 911, Support Services, Drivers Licensing, Civil Services and their respective budgets. I hold an Idaho POST Advanced certification.
In addition to my full-time work, I have a dedicated life of service to the community. For 18 years I have volunteered as a youth soccer coach and currently coach our local competitive team, the Sandpoint Strikers 7th and 8th grade girls. Alongside April, I volunteered for Camp to Belong Washington for 10 years. During that time, we reunited 1,000 brothers and sisters that were separated due to foster care, to experience a week long summer camp together. For over a decade, I volunteered in various roles for the South Kitsap School District. I am an active member of the Bonners Ferry Rotary. I have served as a Board Member for non-profit programs and have had the privilege to serve and travel on several international mission trips with church youth groups.
Protecting and serving has been my life’s calling. I am eager to serve Boundary County as your Sheriff and humbly ask for your vote.
In Your Service,
