Sheriff Gary Raney joined the Ada County Sheriff's Office in 1983 because of its reputation as one of the most professional and respected law enforcement agencies in the Northwest. He advanced through the ranks of the Sheriff's Office until he was appointed Undersheriff in 2002. He was elected and sworn in as the Ada County Sheriff in 2005, and is now responsible for the largest law enforcement agency in the State of Idaho.

Sheriff Raney has a variety of responsibilties mandated by Idaho law that include patrolling Ada County roads and waterways, monitoring sex offenders, issuing driver's licenses and operating the Ada County Jail that holds more than 1,000 inmates. He also runs the emergency dispatch center that serves twelve different public safety agencies, the main record storage and sharing system in the County, the Metro SWAT Team and Metro Narcotics Team.

Sheriff Raney has a history of leadership in law enforcement. As a detective, he earned the Distinguished Service Medal for a long-term undercover assignment and the Sheriff's Star Medal for a complicated triple-murder investigation that put the first woman on Idaho's death row.

Sheriff Raney graduated at the top of his police academy class and then continued his college education, earning his Bachelors Degree in Criminal Justice Administration at Boise State University. He has also graduated from Northwestern University's School of Police Staff and Command and the FBI National Academy, achieving a 4.0 grade point average in both. In 2005, he earned his Masters Degree from Boise State University, again with a 4.0 GPA. Sheriff Raney taught several years at the police academy and is currently an adjunct professor for both Northwestern University's Center for Public Safety and Boise State University. He is also a 2006 graduate of the National Sheriffs' Institute.

Sheriff Raney is active in several community organizations and sits on the Board for many of them, including the Idaho Sheriffs' Association, the United Way of Treasure Valley, Drug-Free Idaho, the Ada County Family Advocacy Center, the Rocky Mountain Computer Forensics Laboratory and the FBI National Academy Association. He proudly serves as Chairman of the Board for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwest Idaho and, of course, the Ada County Sheriff's Youth Foundation. In 2006, The Governor appointed Sheriff Raney to the Idaho Criminal Justice Commission to help set state policy on critical criminal justice issues.

In his free time, the Sheriff enjoys camping and hiking in the mountains with his wife and daughter, riding his touring motorcycle and practicing his hobby of amateur photography.