OGBURN, CHARLES W.

RAWLINS, Wyo. – Charles “Chuck” Ogburn, a former Carbon County sheriff remembered as a “legend in law enforcement,” has died at the age of 71.

Mr. Ogburn died Thursday [August 5, 1993] after a long illness.

He was appointed to fill the vacant Carbon County sheriff’s job in 1961 and served 25 straight years, one of the longest tenures in Wyoming history.

Current Sheriff Chet Engstrom, who served under Mr. Ogburn for seven years, remembered him as a strict officer who also had a deep compassion for crime victims.

“He wasn’t wishy-washy,” Engstrom said. “He cleaned up the downtown—shut the brothels down and closed up the gambling (in the 1960s). Those were unpopular things, but he did them and still won elections by overwhelming majorities. He just had really strong principles.”

“Sheriff Ogburn truly was an individual you can refer to as a legend in law enforcement,” said former Carbon County Attorney Kurt Kelly.

“He was both feared and respected throughout the United States. He was from the old school of law enforcement.”

Mr. Ogburn’s funeral will be at 10 a.m. today at St. Thomas Episcopal Church.