Longtime Fremont County sheriff officially resigns, replaced by former assistant Tuesday

The sheriff of Fremont County since 2003 stepped down Tuesday and is replaced by a former assistant who resigned earlier this year.

During a morning meeting in a packed room, county commissioners unanimously appointed Ty Martin to succeed Jim Beicker, whose resignation became official Tuesday.

Martin served as undersheriff for 16 years in the Sheriff’s Office before retiring this spring for personal reasons. He’ll finish the final four months of Beicker’s term and will not run for a full term in the November election, although he briefly entered the race and dropped out.
“Don’t expect any big decisions from me,” Martin said. “I’m just looking forward to getting in there and kind of easing the tension of the staff a little bit. Trying to go through two transitions in a very short amount of time is very traumatic for them. So I just want to try to ease that a little bit.”

Martin said he hadn’t intended to return to the office but was asked to do so by friends, office staff and county leaders.

“I’m the only one who has the experience to step right in and do the job,” he said.

Before Martin was sworn in as sheriff, commissioners and the audience thanked Beicker for his 30 years of service with a long standing ovation and “I’m a Beicker backer” stickers.

“I recognized it was time to step down and not overstay,” Beicker said. “It just felt like the right time. I’m glad Ty’s replacing me. Now I just want to spend more time at home with my family.”

Beicker and Martin didn’t talk specifically about recent troubles in the department, including a former deputy pleading guilty Monday to tampering with evidence and stealing jewelry from a crime scene.

However, Beicker mentioned the “stress” in the office as a factor in his resignation, and Martin expressed his desire to help the office transition to new leadership after the election.

Commissioners said it took them three days to choose Martin from a list of applicants that included the candidates in the sheriff’s race. They decided not to appoint any of the candidates to the job.

“We want the people to decide who our new sheriff will be, ” said Commissioner Debbie Bell. “We didn’t want to be seen as trying to influence that election.”

Beicker had worked for the county since 1988 and was elected to four terms as sheriff.