The Howard County Sheriff’s Office has recently retired one deputy and hired another.
The end of 2022 brought the retirement of Deputy Darwin Kueker after 42-plus years in law enforcement. Kueker began his career with the Cresco Police Department, but spent the majority of his time as a peace officer with the Howard County Sheriff’s Office.
In a department Facebook post, Sheriff Tim Beckman congratulated Kueker on his well-deserved retirement after 42 1/2 years of dedicated service to Howard County and Cresco. He added, “Your knowledge and humor will be truly missed. It has been an honor and pleasure to serve alongside you.”
Replacing Kueker as deputy will be another former Cresco Police officer. Deputy Gatlin Keehner join’s the sheriff’s office as a certified law enforcement officer. He was born in Montana, grew up in Monona, IA, and graduated from MFL MAR MAC in 2015. Gatlin attended NICC, and graduated in 2017 with a degree in applied science.
