Iron County Sheriff Mark Valesano

CRYSTAL FALLS — Iron County Sheriff Mark Valesano has been elected president of the Michigan Sheriffs’ Association for 2020.

Valesano was tapped at the MSA board of directors’ fall meeting in October.

The MSA mission is to provide educational opportunities for sheriffs to promote the safety and security of their respective communities.The board of directors is comprised of sheriffs from the five MSA districts covering all 83 Michigan counties.

Valesano will be responsible for representing the MSA at various meetings across the state and nationally.

Valesano is entering his 12th year as Iron County sheriff. He has been with the office for more than three decades, serving as an Iron County patrol deputy and as a D.A.R.E. officer for 10 years. Before joining Iron County, Valesano was a Crystal Falls City Police officer. He has more than 35 years in law enforcement.

He has seats on the U.P. Michigan Municipal Risk Management Board, Iron County Kinship Board, the Upper Peninsula Substance Enforcement Board and the Iron County Collaborative Board.

Valesano has a bachelor’s degree from Northern Michigan University and is an NMU Police Academy graduate. He is the second Iron County sheriff to be Michigan Sheriffs’ Association president, after Edward Sandri in 1965.

Valesano and his wife, Linda, have been married for 40 years and have three grown children and two grandchildren.