After 30 years with Wood County, Investigator Sergeant Scott Machotka is set for Retirement

A decorated career full of investigating, patrolling and training will come to a close

As a kid, Scott Machotka would sit in his parents’ restaurant and admire the state patrol officers that came in to have meals or coffee. He saw them as heroes and thought about what it would be like to do what they do.

Over the last 30+ years, Machotka has made that dream a reality. His service has now come to an end and he said he has made lots of memories with his coworkers throughout his tenure at the Wood County Sheriff’s Department.

Starting as an Engineering Major UW-Platteville, Machotka soon realized that Criminal Justice would be his career path.

Some titles that Machotka held during his tenure with Wood County were: Deputy Supervisor at Wood County Jail, patrolman, investigator, training sergeant and investigator sergeant.

“As far as the titles that I’ve held, I think they were all important in different aspects,” he said. “Ending as an investigator was important because you got to see start to finish, the whole entire process of a case. They’re all pretty important.”

Machotka stressed the fact that sometimes not getting to see the case through as a patrolman was not as rewarding as being in the investigative department.

“A lot of times you when you’re on patrol, you would take the initial case and never see the outcome,” Machotka said. “Now, patrolmen often times do the initials and I’ll follow them through to the end including trial and conviction.”

Not only did he teach his fellow department members firearm safety and how to shoot, the department allowed Machotka to help teach students at UW-Stevens Point and Mid-State Technical College. He said teaching students at these colleges was very rewarding for him as he helped them achieve their dreams of going into criminal justice.

“Being in charge of our reserve deputy part-time program, I would get to know these students on a more 1-on-1 level from instructing them during the recruit academy and ultimately, we ended up hiring a bunch of them part-time,” Machotka said. “Just seeing a person improve on the shooting range, it was rewarding.”

“I’m going to miss the camaraderie from all my coworkers and everyone else around the state of Wisconsin that I’ve gotten to know throughout the years,” Machotka said. “There’s a bond between all of us. No matter what, you’ve got the person’s back that you’re working with in terms of the fact that they can count on you when the going gets tough.”

With his free time, Machotka said he plans to visit his three sons more and enjoy the outdoors. He also plans to work part time but doesn’t want to do anything with law enforcement at this time.

A post from the Wood County Sheriff Department Facebook Page wished Machotka good luck in retirement and thanked him for his service.

“Congrats Scott on your upcoming retirement,” the post said. “You will be missed. Thank you for being part of the team making many positive contributions. Thank you for your dedicated years of service.”

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