You might have seen an unusually young member of the sheriff’s department trying out equipment in Hudson today. An 11-year-old girl quickly rose through the ranks to become sheriff right away.

Kelsey Mergenthaler is a fifth grader at Germantown Elementary.

She won the contest to be sheriff for the day in Columbia County.

“And we write a lot of essays in school, so I tried it and I had my parents sign the permission slip,” said Kelsey.” And then I didn’t think I was going to win, but then I had a softball game that night and then when I got home, my dad told me and I didn’t believe that I won!”

She was sworn in by clerk Holly Tanner, she got a badge, and she tried out some equipment.

She was selected because of her essay on why police are important to the community and what safety means to her.

“Because they keep us safe, and they put their lives on the line for us,” she said.

Among the things that the Sheriff for the Day got to do is to go out on patrol on the sheriff’s boat.

It was a beautiful day for some time out on the water. Kelsey asked a lot of questions and listened carefully to the answers.

“This is amazing. It gets our youth interested in law enforcement,” said Columbia County Sheriff Donald Krapf. “I think over the years we’ve seen a major decline in the interest in this field and to see someone put this much effort into an essay, and talk about law enforcement as a whole the way that this young lady did, it’s just amazing. So for us, it’s a great opportunity to bring some youth in to show that we are community oriented, and to give them a taste of what the sheriff’s office is all about, and let them have some fun!”

The thoughtful girl with a bright smile and bright future said she’s considering becoming a police officer someday.