MISSOULA – Over the years, these Missoula County Sheriff’s had one thing in common: A great team working behind the scenes.
These days Dawn Chase is part of that team. She’s been with the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office for almost two decades, now serving as the senior administrative aid to Sheriff T.J. McDermott.
Her father, Doug Chase, served as Missoula Chief of Police and Missoula County Sheriff, and that didn’t scare her away from law enforcement.
“So I was used to the crazy hours and hearing stories and it just kind of interested me as someplace I wanted to have a career with."
Dawn does everything from payroll to parties and swearing-in ceremonies, keeping track of expenses during floods and fire.
Kelly Job’s duties are a little different. Not criminal law but civil law, that casts a wide net.
“The other side of crime. Civil. We handle lawsuits. We handle parenting, divorces, protection orders, subpoenas, anything the County Attorney throws at us."
As the senior civil process clerk, what Kelly deals with is complex. Civil law is complicated. But she’s there to help officers navigate that side of law enforcement to gain experience.
“Civil law, there’s so much more, criminal is more black and white. It’s wonderful when the deputies can take time to teach each other to not be afraid of civil law because you’ll probably going to have to serve someone someday or tag an abandoned vehicle. Those things you don’t want to do but you have to be involved in. The Sheriff’s Office is so encompassing."
Both Kelly and Dawn are part of a team of dozens of support staff that keep the bills paid, the papers served and the community safe.
