Contributed photo Firearm training was one of the many activities that Sodders participated in during his law enforcement career.
Steve Sodders of State Center has very rarely been out of the public eye in his many years of service to the people of Iowa.
Many hats have been worn by Sodders – law enforcement, state senator, mayor, and a Mid-Iowa Community Action worker. Through many years he has been a servant to the communities and state that he has served.
A 1987 graduate of Ballard High School in Huxley, Sodders began higher education at DMAAC in Boone and interned with the Huxley Police Department. While there he was given the opportunity to attend the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy. After completion he joined the State Center police Department as an officer in 1989-90.
From there Sodders went to Eldora where he served as an undercover drug officer before joining the department on patrol.
After a brief stint back on the Huxley PD, Sodders was hired by the Grundy County Sheriff’s Department and worked there as a deputy and as an undercover member of the Mid Iowa Drug Task Force.
Contributed photo Wayne Sawtelle, Mark Smith and Steve Sodders are pictured as they attended the Marshalltown to Washington Trip in 2007
“Law enforcement is a tough job,” Sodders said. “The hours worked are not always conducive of being with your family. And you should not take your work home with you, and are constantly looking for friends outside of law enforcement for a positive outlet.”
“I have seen the best people at their worst and the worst people at their best,” he said.
While working at the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department, Sheriff Ted Kamatchus announced he was not running for re-election, so Sodders felt serious about running. Kamatchus re-considered and Sodders told him he still thought about running.
“That just did not sit well,” he said.
So Sodders became the Marshall County Democratic Chairman. When he, Mark Smith and Wayne Sawtelle went on the Marshalltown to Washington Trip, it was suggested to U.S. Sen. Tom Harken that Sodders should run for state senator against Larry McKibben. It was a suggestion Sodders took seriously.
Contributed photo Steve Sodders sits in his office at the capitol while serving as State Senator from 2012-2016.
“My kids and I did a lot of door knocking that year,” Sodders said.
When he won the election for District 22 in 2008, Smith said Sodders was the first Democratic senator to represent Hardin County.
He was re-elected to a second term and served until 2017. Sodders lost a third term to Jeff Edler in 2016 in what he described as a “hard fought loss.”
“I had a lot of good bills in the senate, but the most important was the one that was passed that kept over the counter drugs used in the making of meth labs behind the counter and sold with a prescription,” he said. “Nearly 90 percent of the bills I sponsored were bi-partisan and many made it to Gov. Culver’s and Gov. Branstad’s desk.”
“We did not get as far on Mental Health as I wanted, but did get some good things done on the Economic Development Authority,” Sodders said.
Marshall Co. Sheriff’s Deputy Steve Sodders.
After the loss to Edler, he was not thinking of any more political offices, but was convinced that State Center needed a good mayor. Sodders was elected to a two-year term in 2017, and re-elected in 2019.
The next time the mayor will be elected the council voted it to be a four year term, but Sodders is not sure if he will run or not.
“I had three items on my agenda when I was elected: our water supply, our police and fire department concerns and growing our city. To date we are working on all three,” he said.
Land has recently been secured for a new fire station. Sodders said it should be built within the city’s five-year plan. A new police chief has been hired and a new officer candidate is attending the law enforcement academy.
Special meetings have been held on the reverse-osmosis water system for five months in a row.
“I feel small towns have failed when they do not have a vision that goes beyond the present. You have to have a five to 10-year visionary plan and that is what we do have in State Center. We have our own electric plant, a good council and managers and a vision for where and how we want to grow in the future,” Sodders said.
Since June 2019, Sodders has worked for MICA as a teen outreach program facilitator with eighth grade students at Miller Middle School. The facilitator works with young people to get them to make a connection with the community.
“We have 12 mandatory lessons that we teach including resiliency, values, bullying, financial literacy, job interviews, and human trafficking. We also give each student 20 hours of community service learning activates for outreach throughout the year,” Sodders said.
“I can’t say enough about the teachers I work with, it is fun working with them and their students,” he said.
- Marshall Co. Sheriff’s Deputy Steve Sodders.
- Contributed photo Steve Sodders sits in his office at the capitol while serving as State Senator from 2012-2016.
- Contributed photo Wayne Sawtelle, Mark Smith and Steve Sodders are pictured as they attended the Marshalltown to Washington Trip in 2007
- Contributed photo Firearm training was one of the many activities that Sodders participated in during his law enforcement career.
