Sheriff Ryan F. Waldschmidt started his career with the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office in May of 1998 as a part time Deputy Reserve. In January of 2000, he was hired as a part time Correctional Deputy in the jail and promoted to a full time Patrol Deputy in February of 2000.

In January of 2005, Waldschmidt was promoted to Patrol Sergeant and supervised on both 2nd and 3rd shifts until December of 2012. He was then promoted to Patrol Lieutenant, serving as the 3rd shift commander of the Patrol Division. Waldschmidt was promoted to Assistant Jail Administrator and Juvenile Detention Center Superintendent in June of 2014 and served in the jail for over two years.

In August of 2016, Waldschmidt was appointed Captain of Operations, and on August 31, 2018 Waldschmidt was appointed Chief Deputy / Undersheriff under then Sheriff Mylan C. Fink, Jr. On January 7, 2019, Waldschmidt was sworn into office to become the 59th Sheriff of Fond du Lac County.

Sheriff Waldschmidt has served on numerous special teams and special assignments with the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office. He was a member of the SWAT Team, serving first as a sniper for nine years and then as SWAT Team Commander for his last three years. He retired from the SWAT Team after twelve years of service when he was promoted to Captain of Operations. Waldschmidt was a Crash Investigation Team Reconstructionist, responding to and investigating criminal or other major motor vehicle crashes. He is also a former member of the Water Patrol and Rescue Team.

Waldschmidt has been a certified instructor in firearms, Simunitions, vehicle contacts, emergency vehicle operation, and NarcoPouch drug detection kits. He also specializes in mobile data computer technology, creating the format for MobileCom dispatch software used in all the squads and TraCS software used to generate citations, crash reports, and other forms. Sheriff Waldschmidt serves on numerous committees that represent other governmental, business, and non-profit entities that all work to make Fond du Lac County a safer place to live.

Sheriff Waldschmidt holds an associate degree in Police Science from Fox Valley Technical College and a bachelor’s degree in Administration of Justice from Marian University in Fond du Lac. He is a graduate of the 262nd FBI National Academy in Quantico, VA. Waldschmidt is also a graduate of Leadership Fond du Lac and participated in the Sophia Foundation Leadership Learning Circle. He also completed FEMA's Emergency Management Institute Integrated Emergency Management course in Emmitsburg, MD. Sheriff Waldschmidt has received additional training in the fields of leadership, management, tactical command, investigations, and corrections.

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