Jeremy Steffensen to Take Over as Sheriff on Jan 1

A new year will soon be here and with it comes a new sheriff for everyone in Grant County. Jeremy Steffensen will take over the position of Grant County Sheriff on January 1. Steffensen will assume the role currently held by Sheriff Kevin Owen who will be transitioning into the administrative duties of the assistant to the Grant County Commissioners. Owen will replace Karen Layher who will train her successor until March 30, when she plans to retire. 

The appointment of the interim sheriff to fill the vacancy was made by the Grant County Commissioners at their regular meeting on December 16. Officially, it is an elected position, and it will appear on the next ballot in the next general election, which in this case falls in 2026. 

Steffensen was chosen from a group of nine applicants. He is well known in the area as he has been employed as a Grant County Deputy Sheriff since August 2013. Prior to that, he also worked in law enforcement. 

As Steffensen currently serves as a member of the Board of Education for the Milbank School District, he has resigned from that position due to South Dakota law that prohibits the same person from holding two elected positions. School officials will appoint someone to fulfill Steffensen’s board term that ends in 2026.

Owen leaves the sheriff’s office after holding the county’s top law enforcement office since 2015. Prior to that, he was a member of the South Dakota Highway Patrol. Layher had previously retired in 2023 after serving for 30 years as the Grant County Auditor.

Upon his appointment as sheriff, Steffensen said, “I’m very excited to take over the new role, but I will have big shoes to fill. Kevin did a lot of great things for Grant County and I know he will continue, too, in his new role. We have a great group of people at the sheriff’s office and I think everything will continue to flow pretty smoothly.” 

Looking ahead to another big change in  the Grant County Sheriff’s Department, Steffensen added, “The new jail is supposed to be done around July 25, and I think it will be a great asset to our office and much safer for all our employees and inmates.”