Fayette County Sheriff Marty Fisher will begin his 41st year in law enforcement in July. Straight from high school, Fisher enlisted in the U.S. Army and graduated from the Military Police Academy. Following his three year stint as an MP, he returned to West Union and joined the local police department. (Janell Bradley photo)
Four decades of experience: Fisher says there is more to be done
Fayette County may be a small geographical region in a very rural Midwest, but that doesn’t mean the police protection afforded its residents has to be compromised.
As far as Sheriff Marty Fisher is concerned, the people of his county deserve everything technology and the local budget can afford.
Fisher, who first became county sheriff in December 2000, will mark his 41st year in providing law enforcement protection this July, with 38 of those years being right here in Fayette County. He and his wife, Judy, with whom he went to school in the North Fayette County Community School District, have been married 34 years.
Born on a farm north of Lawler,Fisher and his family came to West Union in 1970. Right out of high school, Marty enlisted in the U.S. Army and attended military police school in Ft. Gordon, Ga.
"I thought I'd go into law enforcement and see where it would take me," he said. While in the military police corps stationed in Hawaii, Fisher attended night classes at the University of Hawaii, where he studied criminal justice.
It was during that time Fisher began thinking about moving to Bakersfield, Calif. However, after graduating from the Military Police Academy and completing his three-year enlistment with the Army, he returned home to West Union. It only took a week before he was offered a position with the West Union Police Department.
"They were hiring temporary help, and it was just the day after I'd gotten back home. I didn't even put in an application," he recalled about being just 22 years old with a couple of years as MP under his belt.
Fisher enjoyed his work with the WUPD and worked his way up the ranks to sergeant. After 12 years with the local police force, he applied for a position as a deputy sheriff in three counties, including Fayette. Scoring at the top of the rankings, he was hired by then sheriff Eugene Dietzenbach.