AMERICAN FALLS — Jim Jeffries lost his father at a young age and looked to a former Power County deputy sheriff, Mike Bietz, as a mentor and role model.

Jeffries, now 68, often rode along in his friend’s patrol car as a teenager and became enamored with law enforcement.

Jeffries went on to follow in Bietz’s footsteps, leaving his mark on the Power County Sheriff’s Office and the broader Idaho criminal justice system throughout a 38-year career that culminated with his election as sheriff in 2005. On Friday afternoon, the Power County Honor Guard presented the sheriff with his gun and badge during a retirement ceremony.

“I’ve been elected four times,” Jeffries said, adding that some of the campaigns were very heated. “There’s no way to tell you in English words how humbling and honoring it’s been to be elected four times.”

He’ll be replaced by Josh Campbell, who won the office in the November election. Campbell, who worked as an Idaho State Police trooper and went on to become a captain with the American Falls Police Department, has been working with Jeffries to learn the ropes of the office. Jeffries has also offered to answer Campbell’s questions and even vows he’ll come into the office after his retirement to help make Campbell’s transition seamless.

“I am happy for him and his family and I think he’ll get along well and work together good with the current staff that I have,” Jeffries said.

Jeffries completed Idaho State University’s vocational-technical law enforcement program when he was 19, taking classes at Swanson Hall, which has since been demolished except for a stone archway that ISU seniors ceremonially march through during graduation. After completing the program, Jeffries worked odd farming jobs and got a job at Grant Povey’s autobody shop.

“That’s where I truly learned a good work ethic,” Jeffries said. “You had to provide your own tools and it was commission pay.”

In response to a newspaper advertisement, Jeffries inquired with the sheriff’s office about becoming a dispatcher. He came in and trained for no pay until he obtained a part-time dispatcher position for compensation in 1982 — working at the autobody shop during days and taking graveyard shifts at the sheriff’s office. He also joined the volunteer Sheriff’s Reserve, whose members accompanied deputies in a support capacity.

Jeffries became a full-time dispatcher in 1984. Intrigued by detective work, he used his down time on the job to help research and investigate crimes, often helping to track down offenders wanted on warrants and notifying other departments of their whereabouts.

One such effort was especially memorable. Jeffries made wanted posters, both in Spanish and English, for a person wanted for questioning in connection with a murder in Arbon Valley. Jeffries circulated the posters broadly. The man was arrested in California on a separate offense, and police noticed his face matched one of Jeffries’ wanted posters, which was hanging in their department. The man proved to be a valuable witness regarding the homicide.

For a year, Jeffries supervised the dispatch center. In 1986, he was sent to the POST Basic Patrol Academy in Boise, and he became a patrol deputy in July of 1987. He enjoyed investigations, and he took it upon himself to help prepare victims for court processes.

He was later promoted to patrol corporal, alternating between working in uniform and in plain clothes. In the early 1990s, he was promoted to captain over patrol, before Sheriff Howard Sprague made Jeffries his chief deputy in 1996. When Sprague retired in 2005, Jeffries was elected as his replacement.

Jeffries noted a case he worked resulted in the passage of Idaho’s stalking law. Another one of his cases — involving a 17-year-old girl who was molested by a foster parent — led Idaho to update its law to make the charge of a lewd conduct with a minor a felony when involving victims between the ages of 16 and 18.

Jeffries also arrested a suspect on a home invasion who proved to be Idaho’s first ever match in a system that links DNA from offenders of serious crimes to their submitted samples. The suspect’s DNA linked him to the murder of a Cassia County school teacher.

Among the other notable achievements under Jeffries’ watch, Power County got its jail back into compliance with standards, and the sheriff’s office created an honor guard.

During his retirement, Jeffries looks forward to woodworking. He likes to build furniture, tables, shelves and even clocks. He sometimes gives his clocks away as gifts to friends.

“I want to spend more time with my family,” he added. “Law enforcement is hard on family.”

During his retirement ceremony, streamed on Facebook Live at 4:10 p.m., Jeffries performed his symbolic final radio transmission, and a dispatcher responded with words of praise for the departing sheriff.

She said Jeffries made sure every employee had everything necessary to succeed and made everyone feel valued and respected.

She said, “We are honored to have you as our boss, mentor and most importantly as our friend.”