A Jefferson native is the newest police officer.

Noah Luther was a 2014 Jefferson-Scranton High School graduate, who joined the US Marine Corp that same year until 2018, achieving the rank of corporal. Then he started serving in the Iowa National Guard in 2018, serving in Charlie Company 168 in Camp Dodge. While still serving in the Iowa National Guard, Staff Sergeant Luther was also working at XPO Logistics in Saylorville in April of 2023. 

Luther points out that he bought a house in Jefferson three years ago and both sides of his family has lineage in Greene County that dates back to the late 1800s, and with two young kids and a fiance, he felt like serving as a police officer would be a good fit.

“It’s always been in my heart to be of servitude, with my ten years of military this year, just kind of felt like the right fit. Looking into law enforcement and I have a lot of friends who are in law enforcement and talking with them, and then I was friends with Zach Barden prior to (him) becoming a police officer here and he was the one that kind of told me you know like, ‘Hey you know this is kind of route that you want to take.’ Being a Christian I prayed on it and it felt like the right fit for me. So I moved forward with the hiring process and I’m glad I’m here.”    

Luther explains during his interview with Police Chief Mark Clouse and Captain Jason Kroeger he got a sense of being welcomed into their environment. He talks about now serving as an officer, it is a different point of view than how it was growing up in Jefferson.

“People already kind of knew who I was for the most part, so getting out and actually getting to interact with the community, it’s different than just being I guess just a bystander, just kind of going about your business. Now everything is you know in a sense the police business. So it’s kind of nice to give back to the community that raised me.”

The Jefferson City Council approved hiring Luther on April 23rd and he started the next day with the police department with a salary of $58,583. He will be attending the 16 week program at the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy starting in August to become a fully certified officer.