Bill Mueller jokes there are only two fixtures in the new sheriff’s office that were in the old sheriff’s office some 35 years ago ? a clock and him.
Mueller’s dad, Harold, was Cowley County’s undersheriff before serving two two-year terms as sheriff.
"My dad was the last sheriff to be in the old jail and the first one in the new jail," he says.
The ‘new jail’ Bill Mueller refers to is the one that’s being torn down for the newest jail currently under construction. Mueller was in high school and college while his dad was sheriff. He worked as a deputy sheriff for Shawnee County while he attended Washburn University. Harold Mueller saw his son earn his law degree and pass the bar exam before he suffered a fatal heart attack after working one Sunday in 1968.
At the time, Harold Mueller was no longer sheriff but was serving as undersheriff for Fred Satterthwaite.
"Back in those days, they didn’t have a 24-hour patrol so he got called out a lot at night. He wasn’t getting much rest," Mueller said. "He come home that evening late. He was just home a little bit and set down in his recliner" when he died.
Bill Mueller was in ROTC while in college and got a delay from active duty in the Air Force so he could attend law school. After his dad died, he got another extension so he could come home and help his mother, and worked as a deputy while he was home.
In 1969, Bill Mueller went into the Air Force and was assigned to the Office of Special Investigations. He was involved in criminal and counter intelligence investigations for the Air Force. He met his wife, Belinda, the daughter of a retired FBI agent, while he was still in the Air Force.
After four and one-half years, Mueller left the Air Force and joined the FBI. The Muellers were stationed in Houston, Texas.
"The primary reason I left (the FBI) was because I didn’t want to go to New York. A transfer to New York was pending. I didn’t want to go to that large a metropolitan area to live," he said.
The Muellers came back to Kansas and Bill joined the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. They lived in McPherson about 10 years, then transferred to the Winfield area. They live south of Winfield on the family farm.
Bill Mueller retired from the KBI in 2002 and returned to where his career in law enforcement began ? to the Cowley County Sheriff’s Office where today he is captain of investigations.
"I am honored that Don would think enough of me to ask me to serve on his team and assist him in whatever capacity that I can," Mueller said.
