Capt. Ty Rupert appointed interim Deschutes County sheriff

Published 10:12 am Tuesday, July 29, 2025

Commissioners say the 20-year veteran will bring stability to the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office

County commissioners appointed Capt. Ty Rupert as interim Deschutes County sheriff Tuesday morning, putting an end to another era of uncertainty for the law enforcement agency after Sheriff Kent van der Kamp resigned in June amid multiple dishonesty scandals.

“My head’s still spinning,” Rupert said after the vote took place. “The county has kept things close to their chest. I’m very excited, but it was unexpected. There’s four other people who applied for this and I’m very proud of them for applying. That shows their interest is in wanting to make our office better and I appreciate that.”

Rupert will be sworn in at 8:30 a.m. Thursday at the Deschutes County Courthouse.

Rupert’s appointment comes just nine months after voters decisively elected van der Kamp in November with 60% of the vote. He ran on a campaign of increased accountability and repairing a toxic workplace culture at the sheriff’s office. While many hoped he would reshape the office for the better, van der Kamp’s 209 days in office were plagued with one dishonesty allegation after another. 

Most notably, a report released in May by the Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office revealed that van der Kamp lied while under oath while giving testimony during criminal cases and supplied false documents about his education to Oregon State Police. Last week, the state Board of Public Safety Standards and Training voted to permanently revoke van der Kamp’s law enforcement credentials and ban him from ever serving as an officer in Oregon again.

A split vote

Rupert joined the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office in 2005. Prior to his career in law enforcement, he spent 15 years in the private sector, most recently as vice president of Redmond-based fuel bladder maker Fuel Safe Systems. In 1991, he was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps.

Rupert was one of five individuals who applied for the appointment. Also in the running were Undersheriff Aaron Wells, Lt. James McLaughlin, former Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Deron McMaster and Bend Deputy Police Chief Paul Kansky.

After a month of deliberation and interviews, commissioners Patti Adair and Tony DeBone voted to appoint Rupert while Commissioner Phil Chang abstained. Chang said he didn’t feel like he could wholeheartedly endorse Rupert, but he couldn’t vote against him either.

“I had three urgent criteria: a leader the staff could get behind, someone who will work to create conditions for a free and fair election next year, and someone who will be a good fiscal manager. I believe that Capt. Rupert fits those criteria and I’m looking forward to his service in the role,” Chang said. “I just want to give the sheriff’s office employees the leader they want right now and they indicated through their poll that Lt. McLaughlin was their first choice.”

Earlier this month the Deschutes County Sheriff Employee’s Association held an informal forum for sheriff candidates. Union president Danny Graham said that after the panel, about 80% of the association’s members participated in a ranked-choice vote of the candidates. McLaughlin was ranked No. 1 and Rupert No. 2.

“I want to thank the employee association for putting that together,” DeBone said. “But we sat down with each one of these folks too … Ty just fit the model of what I was envisioning for leadership. He’s someone that has come up through the ranks and was able to step in and be able to take the office.”

What Adair was most looking for was someone who could bring consistency.

“I feel like he will be a steady head. And right now, that’s what our sheriff’s office needs is a steady head that cares about all of his people on his team.”

A short term sheriff?

The special election for Deschutes County Sheriff will take place on Nov. 3, 2026. After the vote on Tuesday, Rupert told reporters he “absolutely” is planning to run for sheriff in 2026.

“It’s important to me that I focus on the culture, the health and the stability of our office for the next several months,” Rupert said Tuesday morning. “Right now, my goal is not to think about the election next year. My goal is to stabilize our office and take care of our employees … Obviously when we go into an election there’s rules. We need to make sure everybody understands those rules and that people are being held accountable.”

However, this stance is different from the one Rupert took when asked the same question during the employee association debate. At the time, he said he would only run if he had the express support from those inside the sheriff’s office.

“Can you imagine trying to be successful with a team of people that don’t believe in you? I wouldn’t do that,” Rupert said during the panel. “I was raised to be a handshake man where your word was better than a signature on a contract, and the Marine Corps instilled even more of that in me. Without trust, we have nothing … I put other people before me because that’s called servant leadership.” 

McLaughlin has stated that he plans to run for sheriff  in 2026 regardless of the commission’s decision.