Etowah County sheriff adding 4 new patrol deputies

ETOWAH COUNTY, Ala. (WBRC) - The Etowah County Sheriff’s Office will soon add four new patrol deputies. This comes after a months-long effort between the sheriff’s office and the Etowah County Commission to strengthen patrol coverage across the county to help keep you safe.

Etowah County Sheriff Jonathon Horton says his deputies patrol close to 600 miles across the county. He said these new hires will help shorten that distance.

“The county commission took the cost of a salary and benefits of a deputy sheriff and increased our budget those five positions,” said Horton.

Sheriff Horton will add five new full-time deputies after originally asking for eight. Horton said four of the deputies went back into the ranks after backfilling a new unit he started years ago called the Emergency Services Unit. He said the new additions will allow him to maintain school safety while patrolling more areas.

“The board of education given us an additional $160,000 this year because the board, the commission, and the sheriff’s office tri-part fund the school resource officers’ salaries and benefits. That allowed us to get a much-needed rover in the schools that will be able to fill in when these guys are on vacation or not available,” said Horton.

Etowah County Commissioner Jamie Grant said they’re always looking to find resources to support the sheriff’s office and school school resource officers (SRO’s). He said when it comes to the safety of communities, the commission will find a way.

“We don’t ever just make up new money. We always have money that’s allocated, and so it was just one of those things that this is a need that’s got to get met in order to have safety and security for our students,” said Grant.

With 22 school campuses across the county with a deputy or officer, Sheriff Horton said his department is still looking to add more.

“Receive grant funds we hope to offset these cost of these five deputies and allow us to invest even more and get the additional three deputies we feel we truly need,” said Horton.

Sheriff Horton says these new positions can’t be filled until October 1. He added that his department is fully staffed and is always looking for qualified people.

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