by Amber Schmitz, Sumner Newscow – When Sheriff’s Captain Mike Yoder was 20 years old, he was hired by Sheriff Jerry Wiley and couldn’t even legally purchase ammunition.

“You didn’t have to be 21 at the time, unless you were going to the academy,” Yoder said. “I went to Gibson’s to buy ammo, and was dressed in uniform and had my gun. I went to the counter to buy the ammo and they asked for my ID. They wouldn’t sell me bullets because I wasn’t 21, so I had to have my mom buy my bullets.”

Yoder worked for the Sheriff’s Department from early 1978 to late 1979, then began working as a police officer with the Wellington Police Department, who sent him to the academy. After four years, he came back to the Sheriff’s Department in 1983.

“In 37 years, I’ve gone through seven sheriffs, and I’ve been undersheriff for three of them,” Yoder said. “I’ve been very fortunate.”

Yoder’s father, Fred Yoder, was a police officer in Wellington for about 12 years, leaving the force as captain.

“He was my biggest influence in law enforcement, and also shooting,” Yoder said.

Yoder’s wife, Frances, is a detective with the sheriff’s department. She was formerly a sergeant with the Mulvane Police Department. The couple has four children and three grandchildren.

“She is a wonderful detective,” Yoder said.

His son, Andrew Yoder, has been a detention deputy with the Sumner County Jail for four years.

Yoder said the most rewarding thing while being on the sheriff’s department was forming the S.W.A.T. team here in 1997, which he will still be in charge of and assist with training.

“We started that in response to the school violence and shootings at the time, that was the driving factor behind it,” Yoder said. “We wanted to have a special team here to deal with critical incidents.”

Yoder was sent to firearms training in 1981, and is now a state certified firearms instructor. He now assists the state training with new recruits.

“I really enjoy firearms and teaching new shooters,” Yoder said. “Competitive shooting is what I love to do.”

Yoder’s favorite part of law enforcement was that although it was the same routine daily, you always ran into something different.

“You could be outside patrolling, and see different people and different things,” Yoder said.

He said if he hadn’t worked in the sheriff’s department, he wouldn’t have experienced a lot of things, like transporting prisoners from state to state.

“The county has been great to me,” Yoder said.

He opened Trigger Guard, the local shooting range, five years ago this July.

“I always had people calling and asking if they could use the sheriff’s department’s shooting range to shoot or sight in guns, and I had to say no, and Wichita was the closest place to go,” Yoder said.

One day Yoder looked down the path on his property where he hunts pheasants, and thought it would make a great shooting range. A burm was already in place, as there were old railroad tracks there, so he built on that.

“I build as I go, and it worked out, we’re open now and have a good customer base,” Yoder said.

Although he has retired, he plans to still work part time for the sheriff’s department, and will remain in charge of the S.W.A.T. team. He will also be able to focus more on Trigger Guard.

A retirement reception was held for him at the sheriff’s department Thursday afternoon.

“I’ve met some great people and a had great time,” Yoder said. “I would do it all over in a heart beat, and wouldn’t change a thing.”

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