Glascock Sheriff first to complete new accreditation

In early December, Glascock County Sheriff’s Office became the first in the state to complete its initial program requirements for the new Office of Sheriff Accreditation Program and is expected to be the first to achieve this new fully accredited status.

"This will be the first accreditation of any sort for the Glascock County Sheriff’s Office and represents a substantial achievement for the women and men of our office and our community as well,” said Glascock Sheriff Jeremy Kelley. “It’s a huge accomplishment for us to be allowed to be first. Our citizens deserve to have high standards just like Chatham, Fulghum and Richmond counties.”

Likely the smallest Sheriff’s Office in the state, Glascock will have five full time sworn deputies in 2024 including one school resource officer and four road deputies to cover the county’s 145 square miles.

“The department does not have separate investigative, narcotics, traffic, transport or court divisions,” Kelley said. “We have to continue to do everything larger Sheriff’s Offices do with fewer people and less budget.”

Terry Norris, Executive Director of the Georgia Sheriff’s Association, said he has known Kelley for years, ever since he first became a deputy under a previous sheriff’s administration.

“To take on this accreditation in the light of everything else going on with him, his sheriff’ office and his community, it's clear he is a worker,” Norris said. “I’m proud of him. He is going to take one of the smallest sheriff's offices in the state to a new level and I hope the community there realizes how important this step is.”

Although they have been working behind the scenes on this new accreditation program for about two years, the Georgia Sheriff’s Association officially launched it in July.

Officials from the Association visited Gibson on Tuesday, Dec. 5 for Kelley’s Office’s final inspection and assessment. During the visit they toured the Sheriff’s Office and its holding cells, the county courthouse and other facilities. 

Norris explained that the association and sheriffs across the state have talked for years about creating such a program geared specifically towards the office of sheriff. Many Sheriff’s Offices currently use an accreditation program created by the State Chiefs of Police Association and while there are many overlaps in best practices regarding pursuits, investigations and taking individuals into custody, Georgia state law requires its sheriffs to take on a number of duties and responsibilities unique to their office.

Last year the Georgia Sheriff’s Association offered over 2,800 hours of training for Sheriffs, Deputy Sheriffs, jailors and civilian staff working in sheriff’s offices helping them to understand the intricacies of the duties assigned to this office. These tasks included sessions on sex offender registration, running a jail, courthouse security and serving legal documents.

“And while a lot of retired state officers run for and get elected and make good sheriffs, most of them have no idea what they are getting into until they take office,” Norris said. “Nobody else out there gets effected by all these dynamics of the criminal justice, civil justice and the mental health delivery system than sheriffs do.”

All of these responsibilities and duties are incorporated into the new standards of accreditation.

“It lets communities know that the sheriffs are doing all they can to abide by best practices and it further professionalizes the office of Sheriff,” Norris said. “The new accreditation offers participating sheriffs a barometer and reading on how many of the mandates required of his or her office are being met. It helps the deputies, jailors and civilian staff better understand the duties of sheriff and helps them perform those tasks. And it gives the community a better operating sheriff’s office that is more in touch with the community and saves the community money through litigation.”

Kelley said that through the process his office had to revamp its entire policy and procedure manual and guidelines. Many of the required standards were already standard practice, but were not official policy, he said. Ken Summers from the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office was a crucial asset in combining the policies, practices and standards into the new policy manual.

“We're trying to smooth the process out so accreditations for other sheriff’s offices can go much smoother and quicker,” Kelley said. “We were kind of like a guinea pig. Once we have our accreditation and we start working on a few more, after the first of the year we are developing an accreditation manager training so we will have someone trained to keep this going.”

Sheriff’s Offices wishing to maintain this accreditation will have to recertify every three years.

“This is a voluntary thing,” Kelley said. “It shows the community that department’s dedication to excellence and professionalism. If Glascock County Sheriff’s Office can do this, anyone can do it. I want us to operate at the highest standards and highest level of professionalism that we can.”

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Glascock Sheriff first to complete new accreditation