Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Deputy Clerk Renee Cunningham and the Houghton County Appointment Board — Prosecutor Brittany Bulleit, Clerk Jennifer Kelly and Probate Court Judge Fraser Strome — decide.

HOUGHTON — Houghton County will interview all seven applicants for the sheriff position at a meeting next month.

After reviewing applications Wednesday afternoon, the appointment board decided all candidates met the minimum standard to be considered.

The board will choose a sheriff sometime after the next meeting.

The applicants are:

– Brian Cadwell, director and chief of Michigan Technological University Public Safety & Police Services

– Kevin Coppo, undersheriff and interim sheriff with the Houghton County Sheriff’s Office

– Marc Geborkoff, lieutenant with Michigan Technological University Public Safety & Police Services

– Steve Laux, former trooper with the Michigan State Police Calumet Post

– Adam Rajala, former detective sergeant with the Houghton County Sheriff’s Office

– Josh Saaranen, detective lieutenant with the Houghton County Sheriff’s Office

– Tami Sleeman, senior special agent with the Division of Criminal Investigation in the Wisconsin Department of Justice

All candidates have served in local departments. Saaranen and Laux were also candidates in the 2020 sheriff’s race.

In the interest of fairness, all interviews will take place on the same day, the board decided. The order will be chosen randomly.

Each candidate will get five questions, taken from a mix of questions proposed by Prosecutor Brittany Bulleit and those asked by the League of Women Voters of the Copper Country in recent sheriff’s races.

They will be asked about their prior knowledge of how the jail and sheriff’s department are run. Candidates will also talk about experience managing finances and in seeking outside funding like grants. Other questions include why they want the position, what they see as the biggest community issues and what changes they would make or not make at the department.

Interviews will take place 5:30 p.m. Sept. 8 at the county boardroom at the courthouse. References for the candidates can be submitted until then to Kelly at the clerk’s office.