Sheriff Robert Hinshaw
Bob Hinshaw was born and raised in Wichita and attended Wichita Public Schools. Growing up, he was heavily involved in scouting, achieving the rank of Eagle Scout. He began his career of public service in his late teens, working for Emergency Communications as a S.P.I.D.E.R. operator and later, a 9-1-1 dispatcher. At age 22 in 1979, he was hired as a detention deputy (called a “jailer” back then) by the Sedgwick County Sheriff. Thereafter he was promoted through the ranks by three different Sheriffs. He has served in, or worked with almost every area including Patrol, Investigations, Detention, Training and Internal Affairs.
While a sergeant, he was selected to assist in writing the operational policies and develop the mechanism that keeps the policies current even today. While assigned as the Director of Training for the Sheriff’s Office, he developed a block of instruction that is still the basis for teaching aspects of use-of-force to all Wichita Police and Sheriff Deputy Recruits. He also implemented the first “leadership class” for newly promoted supervisors and revamped the hiring and applicant process for Sheriff Deputies.
He has received specialized training in managing police discipline and investigation of law enforcement use-of-force cases, to include civil rights violations and deadly force. In addition, because of the unique aspects of running a modern, state-of-the-art detention facility, he has also received specialized training in legal and medical issues impacting jails through the American Jail Association. He has been privileged to make a presentation to the Large Jail Network, a part of the National Institute of Corrections of the Department of Justice. The Large Jail Network is an organization comprised of those jails across the nation that holds a minimum of 1,000 inmates.
In 2003 Bob attained the rank of Major, assigned to command the detention bureau. The detention bureau is the largest component of the Sheriff’s Office, comprised of over 300 personnel and approximately 1,500 inmates – making it the largest single detention facility in the State of Kansas. In 2006, Sheriff Steed appointed Bob as Undersheriff and second-in-command of the Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff Hinshaw was elected in November of 2008 to succeed retiring Sheriff Gary Steed and was appointed Interim Sheriff by Governor Sebelius after Sheriff Steed's retirement on December 20, 2008. He was sworn in as the elected Sheriff on January 11, 2009.
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