Jeff Roorda has provided a lifetime of selfless service to the people of Jefferson County and the State of Missouri.
Starting at the age of 18 as a volunteer Firefighter/EMT with the Antonia Fire District, Roorda served the people of the fire district for over a decade. But law enforcement was Roorda's true calling so while still volunteering for the fire department and working full-time as a police dispatcher, Roorda enrolled in the police academy at Jefferson College where he graduated with honors and was immediately hired as an officer by the Arnold Police Department. Roorda went on to serve for a total of 17 years in law enforcement, concluding his career as the Police Chief & City Administrator for the City of Kimmswick. While working at Kimmswick, Roorda also served in elected positions on the Rock Township Ambulance Board of Directors and the Antonia Fire District Board of Directors.
Roorda retired from policework in 2004 when he was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives. Roorda went onto serve a total of 8 years in the House holding office until he was term limited. For most of his legislative career, Roorda served as the Ranking Member of the House Crime & Public Safety Committee working closely with colleagues to advance pro-first-responder legislation and tough-on-crime bills. At the end of his legislative career, Roorda was hired to serve as the Business Manager and Spokesman for Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 68, representing over 1,000 police officers in and around St. Louis. Roorda was a frequent guest on local and national news outlets setting the record straight on the realities of policing in modern America, including appearances on the O'Reilly Factor, the Laura Ingraham Show, Hannity, and Fox & Friends, among others. Roorda even appeared on 60 Minutes, taking on disgraced prosecutor Kim Gardner and the "woke" left.
Roorda is also a popular author, penning regular columns in the past for The Missouri Times, The Gendarme, and World Net Daily (aka, wnd.com). Roorda also wrote a popular, critically acclaimed book, Ferghanistan: The War On Police in the aftermath of the shooting of Michael Brown. The book includes an exclusive interview of Darren Wilson along with interviews of three of the St. Louis area police officers who were shot in the line of duty in the aftermath of the hostilities in Ferguson.
Today, Roorda and his wife are semi-retired and operate two small businesses. They live in unincorporated Arnold. Like Roorda, their three adult children all attended Windsor High School in Imperial.
Roorda also has a Bachelors Degree in Criminal Justice from Missouri Baptist University and a Masters Degree in Public Policy Administration from the University of Missouri – St. Louis. He graduated with honors from both institutions.
Roorda is seeking election to the Jefferson County Council, District 2, in the hopes for an opportunity to continue to serve his community.
As he always has.
