Former Sheriff Chuck Rhodes dies

Former Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Rhodes, whose local law enforcement career spanned 27 years, died May 4 at the Montana Veterans Home in Columbia Falls. He was 79.

Rhodes started working at the sheriff’s office in 1963 and by 1967 was promoted to chief criminal deputy. He was an advocate of search and rescue efforts.

In 1970, Rhodes was one of the first deputies elected to the board of directors for the Montana Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, after a change was made allowing deputies to serve on the board along with sheriffs.

Rhodes ran against incumbent Sheriff Al Rierson in 1982 and won by a landslide. His campaign theme, “A peace officer, not a politician,” resonated with voters. He campaigned in favor of long-range planning and drafting a five-year plan for outlining goals in the department.

He easily won re-election in 1986 against Chief Deputy Delbert “Del” Brenneman. Rhodes declined to run again in 1990, which opened the door for Jim Dupont’s long career as sheriff after he defeated Rierson in the Republican primary and then beat Brenneman in November.

Rhodes was known as a man who stuck to his principles. That was evident in a July 7, 1988, Associated Press story that reported Rhodes was “willing to go to jail” rather than comply with a Flathead County District Court order requiring him to accept juvenile prisoners at the new county jail. Rhodes said he was “not fighting the judges but the system.”

“The American Civil Liberties Union and the federal regulations say we cannot house juveniles with adults. Numerous court cases say they can’t be combined,” he said. “I’m trying to protect myself, my staff and Flathead County from lawsuits.”

A Flathead Valley native, Rhodes also served as undersheriff for two years under Sheriff Ross Wilson during his long tenure in law enforcement. Rhodes started one of the early programs in area schools for drug education, later calling it “a proud achievement.”

When Rhodes was elected sheriff in 1982, he had logged 16 years with Flathead Search and Rescue, served as a Sheriff’s Posse member and as deputy coroner for many years, and served with the Montana National Guard for 31 years, holding the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Funeral services for Rhodes will be held at Buffalo Hill Funeral Home, in Kalispell, on Thursday, May 8, 2014, at 11 a.m. with burial at the C.E. Conrad Memorial Cemetery.