Jack Sadler Is Proud to Serve as Hendricks County Sheriff
Writer / Christy Heitger-Ewing
Photographer / Amy Payne
Jack Sadler, the new Hendricks County sheriff, believes that although you never know what the next moment will bring in life, good things will come if you treat people well.
Sadler was born in West Virginia, and his family moved to Indianapolis in the early 1980s. Following his parents’ divorce, his mother, Nikki, remarried in 1982, and in 1984 they moved to Danville.
“I remember as a kid playing in the field on the Anderson farm near Prestwick, where U.S. 36 is today,” Sadler says.
He met his wife, Casey, when the two were in the fifth grade, though they didn’t begin dating until they were high school seniors. Sadler never considered himself a great student academically, but he did fall in love with one class as a senior in high school.
“It was a law class that just clicked for me,” says Sadler, who had previously been exposed to the field of law enforcement by way of his step-grandfather, who was a police officer in West Virginia. Sadler recalls attending Thanksgiving dinner as a kid when his step-grandfather would stop by for a quick meal during his break.
“It impressed me how much everyone respected him and loved him,” Sadler says. “That really stuck with me. Of course I also remember him running out the door, turning on the lights and zooming down the road. That made an impression.”
In 1993, a year after graduating from Danville Community High School, Sadler went to Vincennes University to study law enforcement. During his last semester there, he interned with the Vincennes Police Department. He later landed a full-time job there from 1996 to September of 1999, before returning to Hendricks County.
Through the years Sadler has pretty much done it all, working as a police officer, school resource officer, merit deputy, merit sergeant, field training officer, emergency response team (ERT) member, ERT team leader, D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) instructor, detective, firearm instructor, and, for the past eight years, captain of the enforcement division at the Hendricks County Sheriff’s Office. His latest role is Hendricks County sheriff, following in the footsteps of his friend, Sheriff Brett Clark.
Although Sadler had never anticipated becoming a sheriff, faith and family have been his guiding forces when making life decisions.
“God guides you where you need to be,” he says. “When we returned to Hendricks County in 1999, I was hired by the Hendricks County Sheriff’s Office and Casey was hired as a speech pathologist by the Plainfield school system within days of each other.”
Sadler’s mantra is, “Tell the truth. Be who you are.” When he ran for sheriff, he hoped that message would resonate with the community and it did.
“No matter where you are in Hendricks County, you’re going to run into good people,” he says. He especially appreciates the relationships between law enforcement and community members.
“That doesn’t happen without effort and honesty,” he says. “At the end of the day, my hope is to not only serve this community, but to also work together because you can’t effectively do the job of law enforcement without the support of the community.”
In 2016 Sadler was selected to attend the Department of Homeland Security Leadership Academy in Georgia, known as a mini FBI academy. Only one officer per state is picked and Sadler got to represent Indiana.
In 2019 he attended Leadership Hendricks County and now serves on the board. The following year, he went to the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia, where more than 250 law enforcement leaders from 32 countries gathered for 10 weeks of training.
“It’s the best leadership training I’ve ever been to in my life,” says Sadler, who notes that his attendance there made him realize just how blessed he is to live and work in Hendricks County.
“I’d talk about how our officers interact with Hendricks County residents at the fair or different places, and these people couldn’t believe the relationships our officers have with the community,” Sadler says.
They are relationships that stand the test of time. A few years ago Sadler was at an event where a young lady told him that years before, he had saved her life by arresting her. Through tears she shared that during her arrest, Sadler treated her like a human being, talked to her all the way to jail and gave her some life advice. He was touched.
“In law enforcement you don’t often get the opportunity to see the positive impacts you have made,” Sadler says.
But make no mistake – a career in law enforcement is dangerous. Police officers have to make split-second decisions that can mean life or death.
“We have to be 100% right, 100% of the time,” Sadler says. “We don’t get a second chance.”
Throughout his career, Sadler has tried to be a good person and surround himself with good people.
“The team we’re building here is great,” he says. “They’re knowledgeable, hard-working and kind. We will be successful because of that.”
The Hendricks County Sheriff’s Office currently employs 140 people including 59 police officers and 53 jail deputies. The brand-new county jail facility has a sizable capacity.
“This jail is going to help our community stay safe for many generations,” says Sadler, who plans to continue doing work in areas such as drug addiction and mental health in jails. “Sheriff Clark was a great proponent of that and I want to continue that effort.”
Sadler also cares about his employees’ mental health. “I want our people to be as mentally fit as they are physically fit,” he says.
In addition, Sadler plans to start a citizen firearms training program, since Indiana’s constitutional carry law went into effect last year.
“I support lawful gun ownership, but I want folks to learn how to safely manipulate the weapon and to know the laws in Indiana,” Sadler says. “It’s important to have those conversations before something happens and not after. We are all safer when we’re working together.”
He also wants to do everything he can to support the school resource officers in the county to make schools as safe as possible.
“We can’t forget about the tremendous growth we’re experiencing in Hendricks County,” Sadler says. “We must make sure we’re keeping up with serving and protecting what is the third-fastest-growing county in the state.”
Sadler and his wife have a son, Carson, who is currently studying fire science at Vincennes University. They have a dog named Wookie, and two cats named Jango and Padme.
“Carson is a ‘Star Wars’ fanatic,” Sadler says with a chuckle. “Our previous pets also had ‘Star Wars’ character names.”
In his free time Sadler likes to work out, play basketball and spend time with family.
“At the end of the day, I want to make my family proud,” he says.
The Hendricks County Sheriff’s Office and Jail is located at 189 East Campus Boulevard in Danville. For more information, call 317-745-6269.
Comments 2
Congratulations proud to have
I just want to say that although Sheriff Brett Clark did a wonderful job for us here in Hendricks County, having Sheriff Jack Sadler now at the helm is another great addition to the great folks at the HCSD looking out for us. I had the great pleasure of meeting and being able to talk with Jack at the Well Community Center during early voting on 4/22/22, and was not only impressed with his vision for HC but of him overall as a neat, caring and good individual. Looking forward to the future as well as being able to attend one of his firearms training classes, which we also spoke about that day. Keep up the great work Sheriff Jack, and thank you!