Warrant focus showing results

By Rich Flowers News Editor

January 13, 2009 01:28 pm

— The Henderson County Sheriff’s Department has stepped up the number of warrants served by getting patrol deputies more involved in the process, Sheriff Ray Nutt said.
Nutt said deputies began carrying a list of active warrants in patrol vehicles shortly before he became sheriff January 1. During the week of January 4-11, there were 76 warrants served by HCSO. An additional 26 warrants were served by other law enforcement agencies in the county.
“We’ve gotten great response from the patrol deputies,” Nutt said. “There’s been a big increase.”
Nutt was elected sheriff in November 2008. During his campaign he said, if elected, he would return the focus of the department to law enforcement. His vision for the department included putting more deputies on the street and having them play a more proactive role in taking on crime in the county.
Nutt, with the cooperation of outgoing Interim Sheriff Mark Jordan, jump-started the program in December. Deputies began carrying the warrants Christmas Eve. Almost immediately the department began to see results.
Nutt said the focus on serving warrants is not at the expense of the deputies’ other duties.
“They do it when they’re not answering a call or involved in another case,” Nutt said. “They pretty much do it in their spare time. We’ve monitored it to make sure all of the calls are being taken care of.”
Henderson County currently has more that 10,000 warrants on file.
Nutt has emphasized to his deputies that he expects the need for them to spend more time on the road and less time inside the sheriff’s department. Serving warrants is just part of their responsibility.
Nutt said during the campaign he expects the deputies on patrol to pay special attention to the drug problem and make drug-related arrests.

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