was born in Cumberland, Maryland. He graduated from Bishop Walsh High School in 1975. He is a graduate of Allegany College of Maryland in Criminal Justice and also Frostburg State University with a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science and his Masters in Business Administration. In 1978, he joined the Allegany County Sheriff’s Office. In 1979, he completed basic law enforcement training at the Western Maryland Police Training Academy. In 1983, he graduated from the Western Maryland Correctional Training Academy at Hagerstown, Maryland. In 1984, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant and assigned to the detention center as the Correctional Administrator. In 1989, he was transferred to the Allegany County Narcotics Task Force as an investigator. In 1992, he was returned to the patrol division and was assigned as a shift supervisor.

He is a graduate of the National Sheriff’s Institute, the Rural Executive Management Institute, National Institute of Correctional Management, and Instructor’s Training School through the U.S. Department of Justice. A 30 year veteran of the Sheriff’s Office, he won the general election in 1994 to assume the position of Sheriff, in 1998 he was elected to a second term, in 2002 for his third term, and once again in 2006 for his fourth term in office. Sheriff Goad is also a June 1997 graduate of the, 189th Session, FBI National Academy on Leadership and Management.

Sheriff Goad was inducted as the 67^th President of the National Sheriffs’ Association in July of 2008. He is a Past President of the Maryland Sheriff’s Association, were he also serves on the Executive Board of the association. Sheriff Goad is also a member of the Cumberland Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #90, the International Association Chiefs of Police, the Maryland Chiefs of Police Association, and the MD/DELAWARE Chapter of the FBI National Academy Associates.

Sheriff Goad also serves as Director of the Allegany County Fire Police Association, Past President of the Dapper Dan Club of Allegany County, as well as being a member of the Cumberland Fraternal Order of Eagles, a life member of the Cumberland Outdoor and the Barrelville Outdoor Clubs, and member St. Mary’s Catholic Church. Sheriff Goad and his wife have two daughters and two grand children and are life long residents of Cumberland, Maryland.