Sheriff Rose uses first year to rebuild office

After a tumultuous couple of years at the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office, things appear to be a bit calmer these days. 
At least that’s how Sheriff Scott Rose feels as he wrapped up his first year of office focused on restoring trust. And he had his work cut out for him. 
“It was a trust building year,” Rose said as he reflected back on 2015, the first of his four-year term after defeating the previous sheriff during a bitter and nasty campaign. Rose, 47, took over last January amidst negative publicity, including uncertainties and untruths, surrounding the sheriff’s office.  
Asked how he went about building trust both within and outside the office, Rose responded: “By action. Following through with what we said we were going to do. Sharing our challenges and successes and being as transparent with the public as we can be.”
Maintaining trust with citizens is important in highly visible work like public safety, according to Rose. “The more we can build the trust with the public, the more they are going to call us with issues,” he said. 
It turned out to be a whirlwind of a first year for Rose and his office of 51 employees, which includes 31 sworn deputies. From assembling an administrative team to adding a key position and overseeing a major renovation of the office, Rose had a flurry of activity during his first year. 
Rose didn’t waste time as he brought back Mike Leonhardt as chief deputy on the day he was sworn in as sheriff. The previous sheriff, Jim Jensen, fired Leonhardt for being disloyal, an act Rose has always maintained was unjust and without cause.
Rose said it was important to bring Leonhardt back because of his extensive administrative e