Scott Steward

Scott Steward said he isn’t finished serving Park County. 

The former Park County sheriff and current commission chair said there’s a lot of unfinished business he’d like to see through, including the completion of the land use regulations process that was one of his major reasons for running in the first place, so he’s running for a second term on the commission. 

He’s not alone. Of three available seats, only Dossie Overfield is not running again, while Lloyd Thiel affirmed his intention last week to go for a third term, along with at least three challengers who have announced — former county clerk candidate Tim Lasseter of Cody, GOP State Committeewoman Nicole Forsberg of Clark and Treasurer Barb Poley of Cody. 

Steward is happy to see the interest in what he said is a tough job.

“So my recommendation to anybody running for this is learn, learn what they're getting into and learn what they can and cannot do,” he said. “But it's a very rewarding thing. I'm looking forward to another four years if I get in. I want to see what we're doing, see it through. I know it's not going to be a cake walk … I know there's a good chance there's a budget crunch coming.”

Steward was first elected to the commissioners in 2022 when he was the top vote getter in the Republican primary, and took office in 2023 after having retired as the sheriff after 32 years in the department, rising from dispatcher to detention and patrol deputy to lieutenant, undersheriff and sheriff. 

He said his life has been almost entirely in the realm of public service — he served in the U.S. Marines soon after graduating from Cody High School in 1985 and then returned to his hometown of Cody. 

It’s also been almost entirely spent in Park County. After growing up in Cody, he lived in Ralston after returning from the Marines, which he said gave him an idea of the “Powell side” of the basin. He also lived when younger up the South Fork and has lived for years in Wapiti. He even did a stint working at a Meeteetse ranch after retiring from the sheriff’s office. 

“I think I have a very large grasp of the county and the pulse, and the pulse is different everywhere you go,” he said. 

So far in his first term on the commission he said he’s learned much more about the inner workings of government, in a different way from his time at the sheriff’s office. 

He said it also didn’t take long after starting on the board to realize this job was going to come with a lot more heat. 

“I often said that I'll get my rear end chewed more as a county commissioner in the first month than I did in 18 years as sheriff. And it's certainly true,” he said. “People are very passionate, and I get that, you know, it's that fine balancing, and boy, some of the stuff can get contentious when you start talking about property rights … Some people want more control, some want less control, some want no control.”

Steward is also making a point to let people know where he stands on issues, to the extent that, as chair, he will let the record show his vote on many of the numerous decisions the commissioners make each meeting, especially if it’s a bigger issue. 

Traditionally the chair hasn’t voted unless to break a tie. 

“I would rather see people who can hold their ground, rather than those who just want to follow the leader; that's important for me, and that's kind of what I am,” he said, adding he’s been pleased at other commissioners also being willing to be the dissenting vote. “One of the things I did as chair, and I talked to our board, is on a lot of these good, big issues, I'm going to vote even though I don't have to … I don't want to be sitting there for a year and nobody knows what I'm thinking. I'm going to vote, and I think that's important, you know, I just don't want to hide behind the board.”