About Mike

Mike's life and career has take many turns, from before moving to Marquette County, to making Marquette County his home. Learn more about Mike and how he is uniquely qualified to be Sheriff of Marquette County.

Mike's hobbies include:

Hunting
Outdoorsman
Spending time with family & friends
Spending time with his dog
Carpentry
A Harley enthusiast!

Life before Marquette County

Born and raised to be a hard worker with a dedicated mindset to his craft, Mike was raised in the trucking industry. For over 20 years, Mike’s parents owned and operated Mike Kowalski Trucking, Inc in Whitewater, WI (now operating under Pope Transport, Inc). From a young age Mike learned the importance of fleet management, maintenance, and how to take care of your employees from his father. Mike’s father was his ultimate mentor teaching him about many aspects of business, including residential and commercial rental properties. Mike learned as a young man that you can never forget where you started and the life lessons you learned along the way.

Mike’s father encouraged him and his sister (Kari) to do something different with their lives and not to continue with the family business. In large thanks to his high school football coach, Mike elected to attend Blackhawk Technical College in Janesville, WI for Police Science. During that time, Mike was accepted into a multiple week internship program with the Rock County Sheriff’s Office.

He earned his associate’s degree in 2001 and was hired by the Rock County Sheriff's Office in June 2001 as a Correctional Officer. At a young age, Mike was able to work with and supervise many different backgrounds in a jail with a population of over 500 inmates. His work ethic and integrity earned him an opportunity to be one of the primary property room officers responsible for inmate funds and property. Mike also became a certified Field Training Officer (F.T.O.) with Rock County.

While working as a Correctional Officer, Mike was hired by the Town of Milton Police Department and City of Evansville Police Department to work as part time law enforcement in their jurisdictions.

Making Marquette County Home

In 2004, Mike was ready to expand his career as a full-time patrol officer. During the earlier 2000’s law enforcement was still a very competitive field to get into with sometimes hundreds of applicants for only one position. Mike finished number one in the Marquette County process and was hired as a patrol deputy in September 2004.

Mike purchased a home in the Village of Oxford and went to work learning Marquette County geography. On his days off and his own time Mike drove around countless hours and miles to become more familiar with all roads within the county. In 2005, the City of Montello Police Department hired Mike as a part time police officer. Two years later, the Village of Oxford Police Department offered more hours to work part time and Mike took advantage of the rare opening.

In 2007, Mike and his wife, Sara, welcomed their first son into the world and in 2008 they built a home and moved to the Town of Westfield to become established in the community.

During his time in public safety, Mike has often been told that some of his ideas “cannot be done” or that “it will never happen”. He has only used these comments as further encouragement to accomplish the goals he has set for himself and the Sheriff’s Office.

A career blessing & challenges

Mike was blessed to become Marquette Counties third K9 handler since 1996 with his cherished partner “Axel”. In a span of 10 years, K9 Axel and Mike were awarded the “K9 Rookie Handler of the Year” (2012) and “K9 Handler of the Year” (2016) by the Wisconsin Law Enforcement Canine Handlers Association (WLECHA). The K9 team started out with less the $1,000 in the K9 account and with strong community support, fundraising, and public interaction the K9 program has raised over $50,000, and at one time even had three active working K9 teams.

In the fall of 2015, the Jail Division was going through major morale issues with several veteran staff leaving. This led to an internal investigation, and ultimately, an open Jail Administrator position. Mike was comfortable in his position as Patrol Sergeant and K9 Handler, but he knew he wanted to make a difference and impact on an entire division. This led him to applying for the grueling application process and being committed to making the necessary changes. Mike was promoted in January 2016 to the position of Jail Administrative Captain.

During the promotional process Mike made it known he would work with the team daily, as well as focus on creating and completing a standalone policy manual for the Jail Division within one year. The policy creation was a goal he identified through his research after finding the Jail Division had been operating under the Law Enforcement manual. His first year as Jail Administrator was very difficult. He faced many personal challenges throughout the year, while transitioning into his new management role. He went through back surgery in the second month and lost his ultimate mentor, his father, to ALS that May. Mike is very proud to say the manual creation and completion was fulfilled within the timeframe promised thanks to the hard work and commitment that Jail Sergeant Mona Bibow and Mike dedicated to it.

Opportunities & learning

Another accomplishment in the first year as Jail Administrator was communication and active listening with staff. The team was asking for less overtime shifts and more weekends off. Mike was able to attend a weeklong Jail Administration course put on by the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) in Colorado, where he learned about staffing analysis and the current trends in corrections. Mike was able to work with the Sheriff (Gaffney) and implement the 12 hour “Pitman schedule” providing staff with every other weekend off and minimal overtime. The schedule helped boost morale and showed the staff that their opinions and collaboration mattered to management.

Mike has enjoyed making strides every day, whether it be from the small tasks to the large ones. One of the large strides we took was going from multiple pages of DOC 350 code violations to zero code violations in a matter of less than two years. Implementing updated jail-based programs and technology were key to our success.

Sheriff Gaffney attended the National Sheriff’s Association conference and was awarded a voucher from the American Jail Association for the Certified Jail Manager (CJM) program. Sheriff Gaffney presented Mike with the voucher and application packet. He suggested to him to look at the process someday. Mike kept the packet on his desk until he thought he was personally ready to take the next step. In early 2021, Mike believed he was ready to complete application and met all the requirements of a CJM. He took the exam and successfully passed the proctored test on the first attempt to become a certified CJM. Mike his thankful he was given the opportunity to complete this program and have the recognition as the only CJM in Wisconsin history.

The next challenge he tackled was to make Marquette County the smallest PREA compliant jail in Wisconsin. This process took a lot of time, effort, and energy with the entire team. Mike is very proud to say we became the 12th PREA complaint jail out of 72 counties in 2022.

Uniquely qualified

During his time as the full-time Jail Administrative Captain, he was able to be on several boards and committees locally and on the state level. He worked with the Wisconsin Correctional Nurses Association, Marquette County Treatment Court Team, Marquette County Crime Stoppers, Wisconsin Crime Stoppers, Wisconsin Command College Alumni Association, Marquette County Traffic Safety Committee, and Marquette County Firefighters Association.

Mike was able to attend and graduate with certificates from two recognized educational institutions as his time as Jail Administrator. Mike was the first employee ever to attend the Wisconsin Command College for Marquette County and attended session #4 (UW-Madison and Wisconsin Department of Justice) becoming a Certified Public Manager (CPM) in 2017. Mike was the second employee in the county to attended session #271 of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia in 2018.

In December 2018, The Village of Oxford appointed Mike as their next Chief of Police for their part time agency. Mike leads the agency with three additional part time officers. Mike has never missed working for the Village of Oxford’s July 4th Celebration since he started helping with the event in 2006.

He enjoys challenging himself and others in their careers. In the Spring of 2023, he was given an opportunity to lead the Field Services Division. Mike accepted the position of Field Services Captain and continues to provide insight with jail operations. Mike also oversees and supervises the City of Montello Law Enforcement contract. He continues to supervise the K9 program, lead agency training coordinator, and is responsible for the Enterprise Fleet Management program.

Mike’s next goal is to be elected as your next Sheriff of Marquette County in November of 2026. All the learning experiences and teamwork Mike has been able to be a part of will help him lead the men and women of the Sheriff’s Office and continue to protect and serve the community.

Under Wisconsin State Statute the Sheriff’s first duty listed is to take charge and custody of the jail maintained by the county and the persons in the jail and keep the persons in the jail personally or by a deputy or jailer.

Mike believes that his courage, transparency, and competence will help him accomplish his goal. Mike promises to continue to be your community leader serving with honor and integrity.