Baughman (left) caught in a picture with Sheriff Sergeant Levi Blumanhourst (right) as others hug in the foreground.
Its pretty much the end of an era for Reno County Sheriff Captain Wayne Baughman. He officially leaves the Sheriff’s Office as Patrol Captain on Monday but tells us that Thursday was really the last official day in his position as head of patrol.
Baughman started his career with Reno County Fire District #2 and also the Buhler Police Department where he worked for 7-years. He says he always planned to switch to the sheriff’s department and explains he started working in the jail, but then was fortunate to move to patrol and moved up through the ranks from there. He has been with the Sheriff’s Department for the last 23-years.
He says his goal has always been to leave this type of work after 30-years, mainly so he could do something else. He believes he’s in good shape health wise and wants to try something totally different. He says he’ll help farmers with crop insurance. That will be with Team Marketing Alliance of Moundridge which he says he’s very excited about.
We asked him if there is anything he’ll miss about being with the department? He says he’ll miss all the people he knows from other departments such as police, fire, EMS and the Kansas Highway Patrol, but mostly those he has seen within the sheriff’s department everyday who he considers family.
Now, its not a total goodbye for Baughman. He says he plans to work as a reserve officer when needed by the department. He’ll be replaced as head of patrol by promoted Captain Darian Campbell who Baughman says has kind of followed the same career path he has.
They held a celebration for Baughman Friday afternoon at the Reno County Courthouse with a very good turn-out coming to thank him for his service to the county over these many years.