MOUNT GILEAD — Morrow County Sheriff John Hinton needs a few good men or women to join his staff following a pair of retirements on Sept. 30.
Deputy Ed Welsh retired after 43 years of service in law enforcement. He served 13 years with the Morrow County Sheriff’s Office. He has worked in corrections and most recently road patrol heading up the transport division.
Capt. Sara Fulk retired after serving the agency for 23 and 1/2 years, as a deputy, sergeant, lieutenant and captain.
“Both brought a wide variety to the office. Deputy Welsh had experience in many areas including serving child support warrants and working hand-in-hand with the court system ,” Hinton said.
“Captain Fulk spent all of her time here inside the corrections facility where she started as a corrections officer and worked her way up to captain as the jail administrator.”
Those departures — totaling 66 and 1/2 years experience — have opened the door for others within the agency.
“A lot knowledge, a lot of experience that one day leaves; that creates a huge hole. We’re moving some people around to learn some new positions,” he said.
Lt. Brian Newsome who oversaw the patrol, has moved over to help on the jail side.
“Right now he’s doing double duty and learning the jail part of it.”
Sgt. Lance Plough has stepped into the role that Welsh vacated.
“He’s handling transports, working with the courts. We were lucky enough that both Deputy Welsh and Capt. Fulk both took those two under their wings and showed them, ‘Hey, this is what I do and why I do it this way.’ That laid the foundation for them a little bit before they left,” Hinton said.
“Sgt. Plough, people may know him from being a School Resource Officer down at Highland. He was promoted to sergeant and oversaw the communications division.”
His organizational skills were a huge asset and his change in duties left a gap in the communications division.
“That is being filled by dispatcher Jackie Nauman, who has been with the department for four years,” Hinton said.
“Lt. Newsome is a guy who came to us and said, ‘What can I do to help? He’s always stepped up when we were lacking manpower somewhere. He always was the first to volunteer to help.”
Hiring remains an ongoing challenge.
“The positions we have open are dispatcher and corrections officers,” he said. “We’re always taking applications for any position, whether it’s patrol, dispatch or corrections.”
No experience is necessary for either dispatcher or corrections positions.
“We want, first and foremost, good people. Also, people who are willing to work odd hours; second- and third-shift and weekends,” Hinton said.
“Great communications skills is always a plus and it’s a big part of the job; being able to talk to someone.”
You can apply at the Morrow County Sheriff’s Office or go online at morrowcountysheriff.com.
