Green County Sheriff Cody Kanable did not arrive at the job by following the career path he first imagined. Growing up in Brooklyn in a family with deep agricultural roots, Kanable went to the University of Wisconsin-Platteville expecting to become a conservation warden. While in college, he worked for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in wildlife and fisheries and as a part-time conservation warden on the Madison lakes.

Then, in 2008, he joined the Green County Sheriff’s Office, initially thinking it would be a stop along the way. Instead, he found a community and a department where he wanted to stay. His career included work as a patrol deputy, K-9 handler, sergeant, lieutenant, SWAT commander and chief deputy before Gov. Tony Evers appointed him sheriff effective July 1, 2024, after Sheriff Jeff Skatrud retired.

Kanable is now approaching his first election for the office. He is the only candidate listed for Green County sheriff on the Nov. 3 general election ballot, running as an independent. By the time the new term begins, he said he will have served about two and a half years as sheriff by appointment.

The timing brings Kanable back to a goal he set years ago. In 2016, he wrote in an evaluation that he wanted to become sheriff within 10 years. When the opportunity arrived sooner than expected, so did a realization about the job itself. “The water was a lot deeper than I thought it was going to be when I jumped in,” Kanable said.