Jennifer Tweite brings a background in law enforcement with her to her new job as civil deputy at the Howard County Sheriff’s Department.
    The Riceville resident brings four years of experience working at the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Rochester, Minn. and a legal administration degree with her to the job, which she started Dec. 10.
    She decided to accept the Rochester position after completing a legal administration degree at North Iowa Area Community College.
    “I kind of always knew I wanted to work in government and my mom worked in the government, so I knew it was a good job,” Tweite said.
    Although her position in Howard County has many similarities to her employment with the Federal Bureau of Prisons, at least one aspect of her new job atmosphere is a little more inviting.
    “You were always on your toes,” she said, when working at a federal prison.
    After working in Rochester for four years, Tweite took a job closer to home to avoid the long commute. She worked as an administrative assistant at Mike Molstead Motors in Charles City for about a year prior to accepting the civil deputy job in Howard County.
    “I really wanted to get back into working with law enforcement again and be closer to home,” Tweite said.
    Tweite is replacing Connie Sindelar, who retired after holding the position since 1973.
    “I’ve really enjoyed working for Howard County and I’m sure Jennifer will do a great job,” Sindelar said.
    Sindelar trained Tweite for a month before retiring on Jan. 1, teaching the newcomer how to keep track of cash flow and jail files, the correct way to enter citations into the department’s computer database and how to serve people with paperwork, among the other many duties the civil deputy is responsible for.
    “It will be big shoes to fill. It will be a while before I’m ‘Connie-capable,’” Tweite said.
    Tweite, a 1997 Riceville High School graduate, lives in Riceville with her boyfriend, Scott Bauer, her two children, Kaleb, 8, and Kooper, 3, and her two stepchildren, Kyler, 9, and Jordie, 14. In her free time, she enjoys playing softball, riding her motorcycle, fishing and camping.