Paty Kelly
Deputy Kelly was born and raised on a small ranch south of Eugene. She grew up showing pigs and horses in 4-H and has ridden the Performance Equestrian Drill Team since she was ten years old.
Deputy Kelly started working at the Union County Sheriff’s Office in 2020 as an Animal Enforcement Officer and Civil Deputy.
Before her employment for Union County, Kelly worked as a Deputy Sheriff for Lane County for 3 years and 7 years as a Deputy Sheriff in Corrections at Linn County, two of those years were as a Sergeant.
As an Animal Enforcement Officer, Deputy Kelly was able to combine her love of animals and passion for community policing. Currently, together with her husband, Deputy Kelly trains all breeds of dogs in the art of herding. They own several dogs, horses, a mule, and several different breeds of sheep including Southdown Baby doll and Scottish Blackface. On her off time, Deputy Kelly enjoys working with her dogs, “Texas Red” a border collie and “Ciz” an Australian Kelpie, riding her horse “Hondo”, hunting and spending time with family.
Weston Hyllestad
Deputy Hyllested grew up in Circle Pines, Minnesota. In High School, Deputy Hyllested was Captain of his Cross Country Team and went to college at North Dakota State University majoring in Chemistry and Biology.
Deputy Hyllested became a sheep shearer with his Uncle in 2012 where he traveled the world spending time in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Scotland, the Falkland Islands, and England. After living a jet-setting life, Deputy Hyllested decided to set down some roots with his wife in La Grande. Deputy Hyllested started working for the Union County Sheriff’s Office in 2022 as an Animal Enforcement Officer and also serves Civil.
On his off time, Deputy Hyllested and his wife both enjoy shearing sheep and trialing their dogs. Deputy Hyllested participates in the Mountain State Stalk Dog Association (MSSA) trialing his border collie “Walker” who received the honor of Reserve Sheep Dog of The Year in 2022, 1st place Intermediate at Calgary Stampede and 1st place multiple trials. He also competed in the shearing competition “The Golden Shears” in Masterton, New Zealand in 2013.
Deputy Hyllested enjoys participating in shooting events with IDPA, likes to hunt with his bow and rifle, and loves raising sheep, cows and working dogs.