Family ties keep Bieber from 3rd term

Sheriff plans to spend more time with wife, sons; supports chief deputy’s plans to run
By: 
Lee Pulaski
City Editor

There’s going to be a new sheriff in town as Adam Bieber has opted not to run for a third term.

Bieber recently announced that he’s opting for family first in his life and bowing out as the county’s top cop. He said he hasn’t decided if he’s going to continue in law enforcement after his term concludes at the end of 2022 or pursue a different kind of job, but he’s going to focus on his family.

“This is something we’ve been discussing for quite some time over the last few months,” Bieber said. “We knew this was coming up, and it’s always a very stressful time for me and my family. We have to raise money, campaign, show up at parades, all that stuff, and then not know if you’re going to win or not.”

Bieber won his first term as sheriff in 2014, beating incumbent Randy Wright in both the primary and general election after Wright launched a write-in campaign, along with independent candidate Lucas Christenson. He sailed to a second term in 2018, defeating independent candidate and former sheriff’s detective Keith Sorlie.

After winning his second term, Bieber had told the Leader that his track record in working with the Shawano County Board of Supervisors was what helped him to win. In a new interview on Jan. 12, Bieber said that the board and the sheriff’s department are not on the same wavelength like they once were.

“It really started when I wanted to include citizens in on our deputy interviews, our corrections officer interviews and our dispatch interviews,” Bieber said. “I got a lot of kickback from the county board chairman on that.”

The board as a whole signed off on the proposal, but Bieber said other issues have surfaced, like the efforts to get corrections officers more pay. In 2021, the board approved giving them and other jail staff a $3 per hour pay raise, but it’s only a temporary fix, as the county used American Rescue Plan Act funds, and those expire in 2024.

“It was a battle to get that stuff, and I had to burn some bridges during that process,” Bieber said. “People that I thought were reasonable, I had to battle them with words and logic.”

Bieber has much to be proud of in his two terms as sheriff. He cited the construction of a new evidence storage building, something that had been a struggle to get the county board to fund, as one of them.

“We were able to get that done in under a year,” Bieber said. “It’s one of the best evidence storage buildings around.”

Another accomplishment Bieber is proud of is getting body cameras on his deputies, and he noted that they’re an invaluable tool for law enforcement. However, the company the county is using is no longer working with the existing cameras, and a new vendor needs to be sought out, an issue that Bieber and the county board are clashing on.

“I know our citizens want us to have that, so that’s still a battle we’re fighting with the county board,” Bieber said.

Bieber is also proud that a drug court was established on his watch, saying that the program is able to transform lives.

“It’s awesome that we already have three graduates, and we’re working to help so many more,” Bieber said.

Although paperwork for the sheriff’s race can’t be taken out until later this year, there is already at least one person vying to take Bieber’s place. George Lenzner, the county’s chief deputy, announced on Facebook that he plans to run for his boss’s seat.

“George was the first one to know, besides my wife, that I wasn’t going to run,” Bieber said. “I let him know because I want him to run for sheriff. I know that he’s always desired to be sheriff … and I encouraged him to run.”

Bieber believes not running for a third term will help him to be more in his sons’ lives. His oldest son, Will, currently is a junior at Coleman High School, while his other two sons attend Shawano schools. He plans to get his children into one school district.

“We miss our oldest son terribly. We’re just missing out on a lot of time,” Bieber said, noting that the family is having to decide which son to see on Friday nights for football and for other activities. “We’ve got to split up as a family, and we’re just not willing to do that anymore.”

Bieber noted that his belief that politicians should not spend their whole lives in their elected seats is also playing a factor in his decision.

“To run for a third term would actually fly in the face of what I should believe,” Bieber said. “I don’t want to be a career politician.”

Bieber admitted he has been outspoken on some controversial issues, and his stances have sometimes been difficult for his wife and children. As an example, he cited when the Black Lives Matter movement came to Shawano in 2020 and he refused to walk with the group.

“I don’t regret that decision,” Bieber said. “I’m one of those guys who believes that all lives matter and that everyone should be treated equally. All of us in law enforcement, we didn’t agree with how that officer in Minnesota handled things, but that doesn’t mean I agree with everything Black Lives Matters is doing, too.”

Despite potentially not being in law enforcement anymore, Bieber said he believes the sheriff’s department will continue to protect the communities it serves.

“I’ve always said that law enforcement is the greatest force for good in a community,” Bieber said. “No matter what call you’re on, you’re generally helping people in some way, form or fashion.”


lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com