Video: First Year Sheriffs

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LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – After a their first year in office, two local sheriffs say there’s still plenty of work to be done.

A year after winning their elections two local sheriffs say…

“First year, it’s been great, been blessed,” said Noxubee County Sheriff Terry Grassaree.

“Seems like it was a few months ago that we were being shown in..it’s been really busy,” added Lowndes County Sheriff Mike Arledge.

And so it has, as first year sheriff’s in Noxubee and Lowndes County manage their new work load and serve their citizens. Sheriff Grassaree has some big shoes to fill. Sheriff Albert Walker had been on the job for more than 20 years. It’s Grassaree’s challenge to keep things running smoothly and make improvements where he can.

“We’re trying to beautify the court house, we’re doing a lot of projects to try to get it better, trying to get in certain shape,” said Sheriff Grassaree.

Noxubee County authorities look forward to moving into a new jail by 2014. Grassaree wants to make his department as efficient as possible.

” We have changed some of the deputies shifts around, some we had put in different positions that were trying to get the most out of their talent,” added Sheriff Grassare.

First year sheriffs we talked to say they’re in need of more man power to distribute work load and keep citizens safe.

“Just trying to get the man power and the money and the equipment to do the kinda job you need to do. Because money’s always tight and you go to do what you can do with the man power you have,” said Sheriff Mike Arledge.

New equipment is in the near future for Lowndes County. That list includes cars, computers and tazers.

“We’re trying to get some of the latest equipment and of course we’ve purchased several new cars and this month were going to order about 6 to 7 more cares to get rid of some of the old fleet,” added Sheriff Arledge.

But in the end, the biggest concern for these newly elected Sheriffs is community safety.

“Overall crime in the county has actually been down, knock on wood we haven’t had any murders out in the county for the year…” said Sheriff Arledge.

“We’re trying to bring on a couple more paid officers and help boost our roster to make the people more safe,” said Sheriff Grassaree.

Sheriff Arledge says his deputies have been working hand in hand with the neighborhood watch and he’s hoping to get even more involved with the community.