Veteran Law Enforcement Officer Greg Schultz To Run For County Sheriff

A veteran law enforcement officer with a long history of public service in the Glenwood community has announced his intentions to run for Mills County Sheriff in 2024.

Rural Glenwood resident and Council Bluffs Police Department Captain Greg Schultz said he believes his 30-plus years of law enforcement experience has provided the background and credentials to serve as Mills County’s top law enforcement officer. Schultz is currently the Administration Division Commander for the Council Bluffs Police Department, an agency he’s worked for since 1999.

“My wife and I have no intentions of going anywhere, this is our home,” Schultz said. “We’re going to retire here so I have a vested interest in seeing the chief law enforcement agency in Mills County doing the best it can do. I think I can bring something to the department, but obviously I have a lot to learn.

“I know most of the deputies that work there so I feel confident that I can come in hopefully make a change for the better.”

Schultz, a Schleswig native, began his law enforcement career as a South Dakota State Highway Patrol trooper in 1992. In 1995, he was hired by the Glenwood Police Department, where he worked his way up to the rank of sergeant. He left the Glenwood police force in 1999 for a position with Council Bluffs P.D., where he’s served in several capacities while reaching the rank of captain.

His specialities with the Council Bluffs Police Department over the past two decades have included advanced accident investigator, field training officer, traffic officer, motorcycle patrol operator, emergency services team member, team leader, team commander, designated marksman, firearms instructor and armorer and chaplain liaison.

Schultz has been involved in several multi-agency task forces and training programs.

In 2017, he participated in the FBI Law Enforcement Executive Development Seminar. Two years later, he was one of 265 law enforcement officers from across the country and around the world to attend the FBI National Academy at Quantico Marine Corps Base in Virginia.
Schultz said the FBI Academy was an intense and extremely beneficial experience. Sixty-five of the officers at the FBI Academy were from outside the United States and 200 represented states and agencies from across the country. The experience and network of contacts he made has served him well in his position with the Council Bluffs Police Department.

“We still have an email group that shares information and ideas,” he said.

Schultz said the contacts he’s made not only nationally and internationally in the law enforcement community, but also locally, would be an asset for the Mills County Sheriff’s Office, particularly in the on-going fight against drugs.

“For a lack of better words, that (drugs) is the root of all evil and I don’t know that it’s going to change. It’s no different than Council Bluffs - a lot of out crimes that occur outside of the true nature of the drug are drug related,” he said. “I hope by bringing the connections I have with Council Bluffs, Omaha, Pott. County, Glenwood P.D. – all the agencies around here – plus the ones that the deputies in Mills County already have, we can grow our network and maybe make a little advancement and headway in the fight against drugs.”

Schultz, a Republican, said running for sheriff is something he’s been considering for more than a year. One of the reasons he announced early is because of the pending retirement of Council Bluffs’ current police chief.

“There’s an added urgency from my perspective. The chief of police in Council Bluffs, my boss, is retiring in September and I didn’t  want people think that with my chief retiring that I had intentions of attempting to get the chief of police position. I have  no intention of doing that,” he said. “I started a year ago talking about this. I’m dedicated to running for sheriff and that’s what I’m going to do.”

Schultz said he’s worked professionally with several Mills County deputies and Glenwood police officers over the years and has spoken on occasion to current Mills County Sheriff Travis Oetter, who was elected in 2020. Oetter, also a Republican, has not announced if he will seek re-election.

Schultz said he understands there would be adjustments and a learning curve if he were to be elected sheriff, but noted that he is familiar with the budgeting process through his current job and from serving as Glenwood’s Mayor from 2000-2005 and on the Glenwood Board of Education from 2016-2021.  Additionally, Schultz is the Trinity Lutheran Church Congregation Board President and sits on the board for the Foundation for North American Wild Sheep, a non-profit organization that raises funds for conservation projects across North America.

Schultz noted that one of his top priorities over the next several months is spending time meeting residents and attending meetings and events in eastern Mills County, where he’s not as well known as he is in the Glenwood area.

“I want to become more well known in eastern Mills County and talk to people about the issues and problems facing residents there,” he said.