Sheriff Joshua B. Saaranen

Sheriff Saaranen has committed to serving the area in which he was raised. He graduated from Jeffers High School, Gogebic Community College, and Northern Michigan University Regional Police Academy.  He began his career as a police officer with the Forsyth Township Police Department following graduation from police academy.  After serving the Forsyth Police Department for three years, Sheriff Saaranen moved back home to Houghton County where he began his career with the Houghton County Sheriff’s Office. He is a 4th generation Houghton County resident.    

Since joining the Houghton County Sheriff’s Office in 2007, Sheriff Saaranen held a number of roles and responsibilities within the office.  He began as a Field Service Deputy working the road and in the jail.  During this time, he had the opportunity to serve as a plain clothes deputy assisting the Detective with narcotics investigations.  He was then promoted to a supervisor position with the rank of sergeant.  During this time Sheriff Saaranen not only supervised his shift but became an active member of a team of trainers providing active shooter/violence training.   Being a part of this team gave him the opportunity to train hundreds of teachers, civilians, and local business owners and employees to take a proactive approach in response to acts of violence.  Sheriff Saaranen then accepted a role as an Undercover Narcotics Detective Sergeant with the UPSET West multijurisdictional task force.  Sheriff Saaranen served in this capacity for just under 3 years and had been appointed as a  “team leader.”  During this time several of the task force cases were prosecuted at the Federal level to combat the methamphetamine and opiate drug problems in the Western Upper Peninsula.  When Sheriff Saaranen left the UPSET West team he was promoted to the position of Detective Lieutenant until he was appointed Sheriff of Houghton County in 2021.  

Sheriff Saaranen has completed several trainings and continuing education modules throughout his career that have assisted him in making Houghton County a safer place.  He has attended Homicide School through Michigan State University and the Michigan State Police, as well as investigator schools, narcotics schools, RAID school, Medicolegal Death Investigation through the Wayne State School of Medicine, Strategos International Train-the-Trainer for School Violence and Police Response, and basic supervision training.

Sheriff Saaranen served the Village of South Range as a trustee before becoming Sheriff.  He was recognized as Houghton County Police Officer of the year in 2018.  Sheriff Saaranen enjoys outdoor activities, hunting, fishing, and spending time with family.  

Sheriff Saaranen is a constitutional Sheriff who strongly believes in serving all the citizens of Houghton County with fairness, respect and professionalism.  Sheriff Saaranen is not only tough on crime but believes in service and transparency.

Undersheriff Jon Giachino

Born and raised in Florida Location. Jon is a 1992 graduate of Calumet High School and attended Macomb Community College and Gogebic Community College obtaining an Associates Degree. Jon got into police work later in life after spending 15 years at the C-L-K Public Schools, retiring in 2012. Jon took a leave of absence from the C-L-K Schools in 2010 to attend the Northern Michigan Regional Police Academy.

Jon then continued to work full-time at the C-L-K Schools for two more years and balanced working part-time with Keweenaw County Sheriff’s, Calumet and Laurium Village Police Departments along with the Houghton County Sheriff’s Office . With a combination of being part-time and full-time at the Houghton County Sheriff’s Office, Jon worked both Field Services and Corrections between the years of 2010-2018.

Jon was then promoted to Sergeant in 2018, being a night shift supervisor of Field Services and Corrections. Jon has also managed the Secondary Road Patrol and Traffic Accident Prevention Program that provides road patrol coverage to secondary roads of the areas of the county.

Captain Travis Dessellier

Detective-Lieutenant Charlie Klein

Charlie Klein has been a lifelong resident of the Copper Country. He earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Northern Michigan University and graduated from the NMU Regional Police Academy in 2003. Shortly after graduating, he started his law enforcement career part-time with the City of Houghton Police Department and in 2004 part-time with the Houghton County Sheriff’s Office. In 2006, he was offered a full-time position as a deputy-sheriff.

Charlie is one of two department firearms instructors, an instructor for Law Enforcement Response to Active Shooter/Violence, and an instructor for School Personnel/Civilian Response to Active Shooter/Violence. Charlie has been heavily involved in training all School Districts in Houghton, Keweenaw, and Baraga County in how to respond to an active shooter along with training several area businesses and health care facilities.

In May of 2021, Charlie started the process of starting up Project Lifesaver in Houghton, Keweenaw, Baraga, and Ontonagon counties. Project Lifesaver is a program to “Bring Loved Ones Home”. Project Lifesaver is designed for people with cognitive disabilities who are prone to wander. The person wears a radio frequency transmitter and if the person wanders off, Sheriff’s Deputies can track and locate the missing person. In October 2021 Charlie was offered the position of Detective-Lieutenant and has been successful in helping serve our community.