Sheriff Gary Raney joined the Ada County Sheriff’s Office in Boise, Idaho, during 1983 and advanced through the ranks until he was elected and then sworn in as the Ada County Sheriff in 2005. Sheriff Raney is now responsible for the largest law enforcement agency in the State of Idaho with well over 600 employees. His duties include policing unincorporated Ada County and the cities of Eagle, Kuna and Star as well as managing the 1,217-bed jail, running the county-wide emergency dispatch center and fulfilling a variety of statutory and cooperative duties.

During his time in office, Sheriff Raney has been recognized locally and nationally for bringing good business practices and data-driven decisions to the leadership to the agency. By using a blend of innovation and performance measures, the Sheriff’s Office had become a model organization in many areas, often hosting training sessions or site visits for other agencies. The innovative thought processes within the Sheriff’s Office have been recognized many times over and are the foundation for providing for a quality improvement effort that is very rare in government organizations.

Sheriff Raney tries to be both educated and an educator. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree, and later a Master’s Degree with a 4.0 GPA, from Boise State University. He also graduated from Northwestern University’s School of Police Staff & Command, the FBI National Academy and the National Executive Institute – a prestigious international law enforcement leadership consortium. Sheriff Raney is currently an adjunct professor for Boise State University and Northwestern University’s Center for Public Safety. He is often sought as a guest speaker and trainer on criminal justice issues, and organizational leadership. In 2010, Sheriff Raney spoke to Congress on prevention programs for at-risk children.

Sheriff Raney is very active in the community and sits on the Board of Directors for several local and regional organizations, including being the Chair-elect for the United Way of Treasure Valley and board positions in the Idaho Sheriffs’ Association, the Ada County Drug and Mental Health Court, the Intermountain West Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory, the Junior League of Boise and others. Sheriff Raney was also appointed by the Governor to both the Idaho Peace Officers Standards & Training Council and the Idaho Criminal Justice Commission to help set state policy on the top criminal justice issues in the State. In 2010, the United States Attorney General appointed Sheriff Raney to the Advisory Board of the National Institute of Corrections.

In his free time, Gary enjoys spending time in the mountains, riding his touring motorcycle or practicing his hobby of amateur photography.