Sheriff's Office

• Completion of any hunter education or hunter safety course approved by the State Department of Fish and Wildlife or a similar agency of another state if handgun safety was a component of the course.  OREGON hunter safety course must be taken after 2014 in order to comply.

• Completion of any National Rifle Association firearms safety or training course if handgun safety was a component of the course

• I am a US citizen or I am a legal resident alien who can document continuous residency in the county for at least six months and has declared in writing to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services the intent to acquire citizenship status and can present proof of the written declaration to the sheriff at the time of application for the license

• I am at least 21 years old

• I either live in Polk County, own land here or have approval from the Polk County Sheriff to obtain a CHL from this county

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office requires proof of citizenship from all applicants. Once proof is provided we will retain a copy of it in your file and will not require you to provide it again.  If we do not have a file for you then you will be required to provide proof of citizenship in one of the following forms:

If you have had your name legally changed AND your new legal name is not on your current and valid Oregon Driver's License OR your Official U.S. Passport, then you must bring in a certified true copy of your legal name change.

Polk County Sheriff Mark Garton is pleased to announce his office will expand patrol coverage from 10 hours per day to 20 hours per day.  The increase in patrol coverage will begin January 10th.  The hours of no direct patrol coverage took into consideration the historical call load of the office and the overall mission of the Sheriff’s Office.  While the hours of non coverage will not be conveyed due to safety concerns, Sheriff Mark Garton states that even during the hours of no direct patrol coverage, his office will monitor those hours and immediately respond to calls for service if need

UPDATE - On August 24, 2002, Polk County Marine Patrol deputies located the body of a male in the Willamette River about two miles north of Wallace Marine Park.  Cause of death was determined to be by drowning by the Oregon State Medical Examiner during an autopsy.  Fingerprints were taken but no results were found based on searches at the time.  Periodic searches were made in following years with no results.  DNA testing was not possible as no sample was taken during autopsy, as was typical in 2002.

Updated on October 21, 2022

Glenn Pennie disappeared under suspicious circumstances in October 2004.  He was last seen by a neighbor on October 3, 2004, at his home at 14970 Airlie Road in rural Polk County.  Mr. Pennie was planning to leave on October 4, 2004 for Oakland, CA, to attend a court hearing regarding his late father’s estate, where he would inherit more than one million dollars. 

The Polk County Cold Case Unit was created in 2007 by then Sheriff Bob Wolfe.  The unit is staffed by retired investigators and mental health professionals.  The Cold Case Unit examines cases that were fully investigated and closed due to lack of further investigative leads.  Team members will become familiar with cold cases and will explore new technology that was not available during the initial investigation, as well as re-interviewing witnesses to develop new leads.  Below are cases the Cold Case Unit is currently examining.  

On November 30th, 2015 at 10 a.m., Sheriff Mark Garton was sworn in as the 37th Polk County Sheriff.  Judge Sally Avera presided over the ceremony, which was held in the Polk County Courthouse.   Garton was appointed by the Polk County Board of Commissioners with a unanimous vote to replace retiring Sheriff Bob Wolfe. 

“I am honored to be your Sheriff and I will work tireless towards restoring this office to the highest level it can achieve,” Garton said.   

The Polk County Sheriff's Office provides the following document for your reference and convenience. Documents are provided in Portable Document Format (.pdf). PDF versions can be viewed using Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you don't already have Acrobat installed on your  system, you may download the Adobe Acrobat Reader, which acts as a "plug-in" for your web browser, for free.