My name is Douglas Wilks. I live, work, and recreate here in Sanders County, Montana. I was born on an Air Force Base in 1964 and spent most of my childhood moving from one base to another until I was 15 years old. I graduated from Plains High School in 1982 and moved away for some time. I lived in Spokane, Washington for over 19 years (1990-2009) working as a professional cook, returning to and graduating from college (1998 Eastern Washington University, B.S. in Developmental Psychology and two minors; History, and Alcohol and Drug Counseling). 

I worked for over 8 years as a licensed Chemical Dependency Professional (drug and alcohol counselor) in Washington state.  From 1998-2001 I worked with the Spokane Drug Court and other programs and had direct interaction with the Spokane Municipal Court judges, and Spokane probation officers.  More than once I was called on to give expert testimony in trials.  From 2001-2003, I worked within the Washington Department of Corrections as a Chemical Dependency Professional, providing both drug and alcohol counseling and psychological education classes on crime and criminal behavior to both male and female offenders in a pre-release facility.

During my last three years in Spokane I was seeing the population explode, a sharp increase in crime and drug use, larger traffic snarls, and higher taxes. I wanted to return to Montana. In 2009 I felt it was time to return to the one place I love living and consider my home. I am a semi-professional photographer, sometimes actor, volunteer, writer, and an actively involved concerned citizen.  You may see me at Shakespeare in the Parks in the late summer, at the Sanders County Fair in late August, bowling in the fall, or fishing on a local lake.

The Goal for the Sanders County Neighborhood Watch website:

With your help and input, I intend to make this webpage a one stop place where the residents, business owners, law enfocement officials, civic groups, concerned citizens and county officials can have a resource to help the communities within Sanders County become closer, safer, and thrive. This website can utilized for announcing what is happening in Sanders County; Neighborhood Watch meetings, your events, news, concerns, provide crime prevention tips, praise for someone in your community, announce community celebrations, alert everyone about emergency information, and much more.  There are places on this website to have civil discussion about what is happening in Sanders County, places to advertise your business, a calendar page to post upcoming events of interest to people in Sanders County, and the option for a Sanders County Neighborhood Watch newsletter.

Together we can help make Sanders County a much safer place for the people who are living, working, and visiting.  Thank you for your time.