As your Sheriff, I have been truly humbled by the incredible support I receive from the community. I am equally humbled by the support I receive from my staff. The Sheriff’s Office has so many outstanding employees who are dedicated to this community that it is often a challenging task for supervisors to select an Employee of the Month. Each month, however, agency supervisors choose two Employees of the Month; one from the Sheriff’s Office and one from the Jail. Then, at the end of the year, all of the employees vote to select the Employees of the Year. The fact that the Employees of the Year are chosen by their peers makes the honor even more special.

This year’s Employees of the Year are truly deserving of the recognition. Because folks in the community often don’t get the chance to see these great employees, I wanted to take this opportunity to share a little about them.

The Employee of the Year for the Sheriff’s Office is Corporal Laura Gilbert. Laura began her career with the Sheriff’s Office like most, working in the jail. It didn’t take long, however, for her supervisors to recognize that she had great potential and she was soon promoted to a supervisory position. Laura later took a gamble and gave up that position to move to another unit in the Sheriff’s Office in order to broaden her experience. She is now working as the office manager in the Sheriff’s Office at the judicial building and is again in a supervisory position. Laura has the unique combination of affable personality and no-nonsense attitude which wins over her subordinates and endears her to her managers. She is an incredible asset to the agency.

The Employee of the Year for the Jail is Detention Officer Kimberly Ash. Kim is the very definition of a versatile employee. Beginning her career working in housing, she has been assigned to almost every area within the jail facility. In each area, her performance was exemplary. While assigned to the Intake area, she even worked as acting Sergeant and trained new staff. Last year, we had an unexpected vacancy in the jail records section and D.O. Ash was assigned to fill in. Not only did she do well, but she quickly cleared a months-long backlog of work. She has been recognized as Employee of the Month four times during her career. She is very unassuming and tends to avoid the spotlight, but performance like hers can’t help but to get attention.

I should also note that there were two dozen employees who received votes for Employee of the Year. This is a real testament to the quality of our employees. I am incredibly proud of and grateful for each person who takes up the challenge to serve their community as a member of the Dougherty County Sheriff’s Office. I want to thank each citizen for giving me the honor of leading such an outstanding team. If we can ever be of assistance, please do not hesitate to call.