Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers announces retirement

After three decades in law enforcement and 16 years as Okanogan County sheriff, Frank Rogers is retiring.

On Wednesday, Rogers, who is known as Sheriff Batman due to his love of the comic book hero, announced to his staff that he would not be seeking re-election in this year’s race. He was first elected in 2002 at age 46.

“I love the job. I bleed cop,” he said. “It’s kind of hard to describe, but in reality we’ve done well. We’re at the top of our game. But at the end of the day, I believe change is good.”

Rogers said he planned on using the time off to be with his wife of 40 years and their family.

He said the decision to retire wasn’t easy, but after a long career in law enforcement, he looked forward to a less-stressful job that didn’t require him to be on call 24 hours a day.

He said he hoped some of his deputies would announce a candidacy.

“After a while you just start looking and saying I’m getting older, I’m getting tired,” he said. “I have some incredible guys beneath me, about my age when I took over. It’s their time.”