Ryan Schmall details campaign for Esmeralda County sheriff
Ryan Schmall, a lifelong law enforcement officer, is running for Esmeralda County sheriff.
“The people deserve a better sheriff’s office that operates professionally, follows the law, and treats everybody fairly without favoritism or corruption,” Schmall told the Tonopah Times. “I want to be the sheriff because I believe that the office needs to be rebuilt on integrity, transparency, accountability.”
Schmall holds a nearly 20-year career in law enforcement, first beginning as a reserve police officer with the Boulder City Police Department, but went on to work in many different areas over the years, including with the Henderson Constable’s Office, as a bailiff in North Las Vegas, as a Union Pacific special agent, as an investigator and field training officer for the Nevada Department of Business and Industry, and in corrections.
Schmall moved to Esmeralda County in 2020 and worked for the local sheriff’s office for eight months.
“I believed that my experience would help strengthen the department and protect the community, but I did find that the agency was kind of struggling with some problems … I spent my entire career believing that integrity is the foundation of law enforcement and wearing a badge. I was a little bit disappointed with my experience as a deputy sheriff there. That kind of changed me and it made me realize that Esmeralda County deserves better,” Schmall explained.
He then left to enjoy retirement but was asked to return to the organization by former Esmeralda County Sheriff Nick Dondero in 2023.
“After I came back there, I noticed that nothing had changed,” Schmall elaborated. “I had come back under the understanding that things were going to be different when Nick Dondero took office, but it almost seemed worse to me. It was just a bad direction to go, so from there I resigned, I left, and I went back to corrections.”
The Esmeralda County Sheriff is currently Julian Melendez, who was temporarily appointed after the Nevada Supreme Court ordered Dondero to be removed due to a 2007 domestic violence conviction, which made him ineligible to be a peace officer, and for not obtaining POST certification within one year of taking office under NRS 248.005, according to court documents. Melendez did not file to run this year, according to the Secretary of State’s candidate filing list.
Campaign platform
Schmall highlighted department modernization, transparent leadership, professionalism, fiscal responsibility, training improvements, and a focus on constitutional policing as top priorities in his bid for sheriff.
“Public service, it’s something that I have dedicated my life to,” Schmall added. “If I do get elected, I will bring professionalism, transparency, and stronger emergency services to Esmeralda County, and we’ll keep our small-town values with that.”
For more information about Ryan Schmall’s bid for Esmeralda County sheriff, visit Ryan Schmall for Esmeralda Sheriff on Facebook.
Contact reporter Elijah Dulay at edulay@pvtimes.com
