Sheriff John Nowels has served in the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office for over 28 years. He was elected as Sheriff on November 8, 2022, and officially started his term on January 1, 2023.

Sheriff Nowels graduated from Eastern Washington University in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. In 2019, he completed his master’s degree in organizational leadership from the University of Oklahoma. In September 2016, Sheriff Nowels also graduated from the 265th session of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia, where he completed master’s level leadership courses from the University of Virginia. Sheriff Nowels currently holds positions on the Salvation Army Advisory Board, the Washington State Children’s Justice Task Force, and is the current Chair of the Northwest High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) board. Sheriff Nowels has also been elected by his peers to serve as the President of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC) for the 2025-2026 term.

Sheriff Nowels started his career in law enforcement in 1998 when he joined the Sheriff's Office Patrol Division. He worked as a patrol deputy for three years before moving to the Traffic Unit in 2001. As a member of the Traffic Unit, he became a Technical Collision Investigator and was responsible for investigating serious injury and fatality collisions. In 2004, he was promoted to the rank of Detective and worked in the Property Crimes Unit in Spokane Valley. A year later, he joined the Investigative Support Unit, where he specialized in investigating narcotics cases.

In 2008, Sheriff Nowels was promoted to the rank of Sergeant and, since then, has held every promotional position in the Sheriff's Office, including Undersheriff. During this time, he has worked with and supervised personnel in every division of the Sheriff’s Office, with significant time spent serving in the Investigative Division as a Lieutenant, Chief Criminal Deputy, Inspector, and Undersheriff.

Since his election, Sheriff Nowels led the Sheriff’s Office in several initiatives to improve public safety. He improved staffing and closed the 40 plus person vacancy rate to zero vacancies in 18 months. He completed a Real Time Crime Center project, and improved efforts to professionally train staff in innovative and cost-effective ways.