Present-Developing Countywide Evacuation Zones

The wildland fires that affected Sheridan County in 2024 exposed and area that needed to be addressed—evacuation zones within Sheridan County. While evacuation notices were successful during the Elk Fire, there was a lot of work that went on around the clock building evacuation zones. Once winter hit, Sheriff Dominguez made it a goal to have evacuation zones pre-planned for all of Sheridan County within two years to reduce the need for on-the-fly building of evacuation zones in the event Sheridan County experienced additional significant wildfires or other natural disasters and emergencies. The Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office has been working closely with Sheridan County Emergency Management, the Sheridan County Fire Warden, and all of the County Fire Districts to create and implement evacuation zones. Those zones, and an interactive map, should be published by middle of the Summer of 2026.

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2026-Partnered with Wyoming Game and Fish to Provide more Hunter Education Opportunities

Through community outreach events, the Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office identified other ways it can serve our county like partnering with Wyoming Game and Fish to offer more Hunter Education opportunities within the community. Recently, Sheriff Dominguez and five deputies completed the Hunter Education Instructor Course and are now certified to teach Hunter Education to new hunters. The Sheriff’s Office will soon be hosting Hunter Education classes. Sheriff Dominguez enjoys hunting with his family and is excited to share that passion with individuals who are beginning their hunting adventure!

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2025 through Present-Virtual Crisis Care for Patrol and Detention Divisions

Soon after Sheriff Dominguez took office, he began establishing relationships with community members and mental health providers to be part of the solution to approach Sheridan County’s mental health differently, because what was currently being done was not working. Over the last several years, many organizations have stepped up within the community to combat this pressing issue. Sheriff Dominguez understands while the Sheriff’s Office cannot solve this problem alone, he constantly asks the question to mental health providers, the hospital, and other organizations, “How can the Sheriff’s Office assist and what role can we play?” Through those discussions, the Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office has teamed up with the hospital’s Behavioral Health Unit, Volunteers of America, and other local mental health providers to break the stigma of mental health within our community. Sheriff Dominguez has been invited to speak on numerous panels discussing how mental health affects our community and inmates within the Sheridan County Detention Center. In 2025, the Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office launched a Virtual Crisis Care program for the Patrol and Detention Divisions to serve the rural communities and inmates within the jail. This program is funded through a grant by the Helmsley Foundation and managed through the Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police.
 

2024 through Present-Entered into an Agreement with the Sheridan College to Provide Dedicated College Patrol

In 2024, the Sheridan College approached the Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office and the Sheridan Police Department and requested if either, or both agencies could provide more presence at the college. Through multiple discussions and meetings, an agreement was established between the Sheridan College, the Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office, and the Sheridan Police Department. The agreement allows reimbursement for off-duty deputies and officers to work dedicated College Patrol and was modeled after the Sheriff’s Office agreements with the Wyoming Livestock Board and the Bighorn National Forest Service. This partnership has been invaluable to the safety and well-being of the Sheridan College Staff and Students.

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2024-Combined Servers with the Sheridan Police Department for Records Management System

In 2024, the Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office and the Sheridan Police Department agreed to combine their Records Management System under one server. This reduced the cost to both the City of Sheridan and Sherian County while allowing more efficiency for both Sheriff’s Office Deputies and Patrol Officers to review cases that often overlap jurisdictions. This is another example of the great working relationship the Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office and the Sheridan Police Department have with one another.

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2023 through Present-Partner with Sheridan Police Department to Implement and Train Consistently for an Active Shooter Response

In 2023, the Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office and the Sheridan Police Department began developing an updated policy for both agencies to use in the event of an active shooter response. It was acknowledged by both agencies if an active shooter incident ever occurred, both the Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office and the Sheridan Police Department would more than likely be the two primary agencies responding whether it was in the County or in the City of Sheridan. It was crucial both agencies trained together. The Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office and the Sheridan Police Department sent deputies and officers to the same active shooter instructor course so those instructors could return and train the other deputies and officers in Sheridan. Both agencies have routinely trained together on active shooter response and have incorporated other Emergency Services like Fire and EMS. This highlights the great working relationship the Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office and the Sheridan Police Department have with one another.

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2023 through Present-Digitized Sheriff’s Office Records

Soon after taking office, Sheriff Dominguez and the Sheriff’s Office staff began digitizing Sheriff’s Office records and purging records that were allowed to be purged through Wyoming’s retention rules. This freed up much needed space throughout the Sheriff’s Office and provided a more efficient process for filing records digitally on backed up servers.

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2023 through Present-Continued to Prioritize the Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office Building’s Roof Top Unit Replacement

Sheriff Dominguez’ predecessor, Sheriff Allen Thompson, recognized the need to begin replacing the Sheriff’s Office’s outdated heating and cooling Roof Top Units (RTUs). Through the capital facilities tax, two to three RTUs were scheduled to be replaced each year. When one of these units failed, this caused tremendous strain on Detention Operations, and the budget, due to inmates needing to be moved to different areas of the jail. When Sheriff Dominguez took office, he continued to prioritize the need to continue replacing the RTUs. This upcoming fiscal year, all 16 RTUs within the Sheriff’s Office will be replaced which will help reduce the Sheriff’s Office overall building maintenance line-item budget.

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2023 through Present-Transitioned to a New Medical Provider for the Jail which Significantly Reduced Costs and Increased Quality of Care

In 2023, shortly after Sheriff Dominguez took office, he and his Detention Staff were able to save Sheridan County just under $250,000.00 per year by switching to a new medical provider within the Detention Center without compromising the quality of care. As a result of the switch, the Sheridan County Detention Center had access to a Physician and/or Mid-Level Provider 24-7 which was not in the previous contract. This significantly reduced the need to transport inmates to the hospital which was logistically difficult and taxing on our local hospital. Since the switch, the Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office has partnered with our local hospital’s addiction clinic, through a grant the Sheriff’s Office received, to offer addiction treatment to inmates in order to reduce recidivism within our county. 

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2023-Reimplemented Sheriff’s Office K-9 Program

In 2023, Sheriff Dominguez supported the Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office with reimplementing their K-9 program after a 10-year absence. The Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office currently fields two working K-9’s, K-9 Kai and K-9 Fox. K-9’s Kai and Fox are sibling Belgian Malinois and are approximately five years old. Both K-9’s are currently trained in Drug Detection, Evidence Recovery, and Trailing. Both K-9 Kai and K-9 Fox have been a part of numerous drug investigations resulting in successful prosecutions to get dangerous and illegal controlled substances off of the street and have been successful in search and rescue missions finding lost individuals.

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2022/2023-Renovating and Completing the Sheriff’s Office Basement
The basement within the Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office has never been finished and is mostly in its original 1982 state. It is essentially an open area utilized as a conference room, custody and control training area, and a makeshift Emergency Operations Center (EOC). At one point, the sheriff’s office was the only facility in Sheridan County that had a custody and control training area. Local, state, and federal agencies in Sheridan County frequently use the sheriff’s office custody and control training area. When this occurs, no other part of the basement can be utilized.

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Sheriff Thompson and Undersheriff Dominguez have envisioned the basement renovation for the past 4 years in order to utilize the space in a more practical way. At the beginning of 2022, The Sheridan County Commissioners gave the sheriff’s office the green light to plan for the renovation. The expected project completion date is the end of 2022 or early 2023. The renovation will include a training/conference room, three separate offices, a soft interview room to speak with victims, and a separate training room for custody and control. This will allow the sheriff’s office to utilize different spaces within the basement at the same time and host training for law enforcement and community purposes.

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2021 through 2023-Replace Patrol Division Portable Radios and Detention and Patrol Mobile (Vehicle) Radios
The sheriff’s office’s portable radios within the patrol division and both detention and patrol mobile radios are nearly 20 years old. Motorola has since stopped manufacturing replacement parts for the radios. At the end of 2021, Undersheriff Dominguez wrote and secured a grant to assist with funding to replace the sheriff’s office radios. The remainder of the cost will be funded by Sheridan County as a result of the close working relationship Undersheriff Dominguez and Sheriff Thompson have with the county commissioners.

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Undersheriff Dominguez has put together a comprehensive plan to replace the office’s radios utilizing the most up-to-date technological communications systems. The new portable radios will be equipped with WiFi capabilities, smart connect (Cell Service), and the ability to program the radios in the field. The mobile radios will have a built-in repeater system. This technology allows deputies, who are unable to get service solely by using their portable radios, to link their portable radios with their mobile radios. This system acts as a repeater system and will greatly increase deputy safety while patrolling Sheridan County’s 2,500 square miles.  

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2021 through Present-Dedicated Livestock Patrol within Sheridan County
In 2017 the Wyoming Livestock Board’s budget was greatly reduced which resulted in over a 50% reduction to the number of Livestock Investigators across the state. While livestock crimes are a small number of what a sheriff’s office investigates, even a few livestock crimes can be very detrimental to local ranchers and producers. In 2019, the sheriff’s office saw an uptick in livestock crimes and increased crime activity in the rural areas of Sheridan County. 

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In July of 2021, the Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office and the Wyoming Livestock Board entered into an agreement that allows extra patrol for deputies to focus on the rural ranch community utilizing funds from the Wyoming Livestock Board. Because of this partnership, deputies are able to provide targeted livestock patrols in all of Sheridan County, especially the border of Montana, summer and fall livestock ranges and any other identified areas. Livestock Patrol has been very beneficial for our county, because it allows the sheriff’s office to primarily focus on patrolling county and rural roads, being more visible and deterring crime while making meaningful contacts with our rural community.

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2021/2022-Additional School Resource Officer (SRO) for Sheridan County School District 1
In 2020, Sheridan County School District 1 (SCSD1) approached Sheriff Thompson and Undersheriff Dominguez and requested two SRO’s be dedicated to their campuses; one in the Tongue River Valley and one in Big Horn. SCSD1 was willing to fund 83% of the salary and benefits package for the two SRO’s. After discussion, an agreement was made between the Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office and SCSD1. Because the district was able to fund 83% of the salary/benefit package of two SRO’s, the Sheriff’s Office was able to hire an additional deputy so there would not be a gap within the patrol operations by adding a second deputy into the schools. 

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This partnership has not only benefited SCSD1, but has also benefited Sheridan County School District 3 and the Story Elementary School within Sheridan County School District 2. By adding a second SRO, patrol deputies are now able to visit and spend more time at Story Elementary and School District 3.

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2020-Implementation of Body Worn Cameras (BWC)/Replace Outdated In-Car Camera (Dash Cam) System
At the time Undersheriff Dominguez was promoted in 2019, the Sheriff’s Office’s In-Car Camera system was outdated and no longer supported by the vendor, Panasonic. After a year's long work of research and budgeting, the Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office implemented the integrated WatchGuard Body Worn Camera and In-Car Camera system. Undersheriff Dominguez wrote and implemented a new BWC/In-Car Camera policy for patrol and detention deputies. 

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2019-Implementation of Sheridan County’s 24-7 Sobriety Program 
Undersheriff Dominguez and Detention Lieutenant Emily Heizer (Ret.) worked together to implement the 24-7 Sobriety Program in Sheridan County which was modeled after Campbell County’s successful program. The Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office partnered with the Sheridan Police Department to provide Portable Breath Testing (PBT) to individuals within our community who are charged with crimes as a result of alcohol abuse. The program allows individuals to remain out of jail so they can continue to work and provide for their families and be active and productive members of our community.

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