Williams County Sheriff Tom Kochert is a native of rural Lexington, Ohio, located in the heart of Ohio's beautiful Mohican Valley country.  He graduated from Lexington High School and then immediately served 4 years in the U.S. Army, serving in the elite John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, 1st Special Operations Command.  His service schools and duties included Interrogator, Psychological Operations, and Intelligence Analysis.  Upon completion of his military service, Sheriff Kochert completed an undergraduate program in Wildlife Management at Hocking College, including the U.S. Forest Service National Ranger training course.

The Sheriff started his law enforcement career in Mansfield, as a police dispatcher for the Mansfield police department.  He began his street training and ride along program there and then was accepted into the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Officer Academy.  Upon completion of both the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy and the Wildlife Officer Academy, he was assigned to Williams County.  He served as the Wildlife Officer assigned to Williams County for 25 1/2 years, retiring in 2015.  During his tenure, he earned an Associate degree from Hocking College in Conservation and Law Enforcement, and also the OSU John Glenn School of Public Management.

Sheriff Kochert has a passion for training and has set very stringent training schedules for the office. He firmly believes that training to be the best we can be pays dividends for the citizens of the county. Deputies are held to professional levels of conduct and are accountable to a chain of command set in place. The Sheriff has attended a wide variety of supervision, leadership, and police training courses over his 32 year career and sits on two committees with the Buckeye State Sheriff's Association, the Chaplaincy committee and CCW committee. The Sheriff also serves as the Post Commander for the Edon American Legion post 662.

The Sheriff's Office under Sheriff Kochert is dedicated to providing professional, effective, and efficient service to the citizens of Williams County.  Sheriff Kochert is available to answer any questions or speak to any group upon request.