Dwayne Carey

By Matt Schatt

It can be said that football runs in Boone County Sheriff Dwayne Carey's family.

Carey coaches the junior varsity Rock Bridge Bruins, for which both of his sons play. Carey is also a board member for the Columbia Youth Football League and created the Columbia Cult, a traveling competitive football team that plays in a St. Louis league.

Although he now coaches at Rock Bridge High School, he attended and played football at rival Hickman High School. He graduated in 1985.

In November, Carey will be running for re-election unopposed. It will be his second term as sheriff.

Carey was born in Columbia on June 3, 1967. After high school, Carey attended Columbia College, where he earned his bachelor's degree in 1989. During his senior year, he interned at the Boone County Sheriff's Department and has been there ever since.

In 1989, Carey graduated from the Law Enforcement Training Institute, located in Hearnes Center. Later that year, acting Sheriff Ted Boehm hired him as a corrections officer at the Boone County Jail.

After nine months working at the jail, Carey became a deputy in 1990. He later rose through the ranks of corporal, sergeant, lieutenant and captain.

Carey became the Boone County sheriff four years ago, after defeating Mick Covington in the election. Acting Sheriff Ted Boehm endorsed him during that election.

Thus far in his career as sheriff, Carey feels that his greatest accomplishment is his involvement in the department's proactive programs.

"We started a traffic unit, which is something that I talked about in the campaign back in '04," Carey said. "I felt like Boone County was in need of a traffic unit with the number of complaints that we received and the accidents."

Carey also takes pride in another proactive program, the Mid-Missouri Internet Crimes Task Force.

"It's a proactive approach to all of the sexual predators that are on the Internet that are going after our kids," he said. "That's a great accomplishment for the department."

Detective David Wilson has known Carey since 1994, when he was a reserve deputy and Carey was a deputy.

"As far as I'm concerned, he's a great guy to work for," Wilson said. "He's very supportive of his employees."

Wilson said newer cameras and mobile data terminals for patrol cars are examples of Carey's work to better equip deputies.

Looking to the future, Carey does have concerns.

"I think that parents, this day and age, don't do a good job supervising their kids, and I think, in that respect, we're starting to see a lot more violent crimes with our younger folks," he said.

He said running unopposed is a testament to the professionalism of the Sheriff's Department. "I tell our employees that they make me look good, because they are the ones that are having the contact with the public."

Carey looks forward to serving another term as Boone County sheriff. "I really enjoy my job," he said. "We have such a great group of people up here. It's a pretty good gig."

Click here for previous coverage of this candidate.

What's the job: County Sheriff

The Boone County sheriff’s duties include patrolling 684 square miles, responding to calls from Boone County residents and investigating reported crimes, according to the Sheriff’s Department's Web site. The sheriff also has administrative duties, such as serving criminal warrants and civil process papers issued to the Sheriff’s Department by the 13th Judicial Circuit Court.