FROM SPALDING CO SHERIFF

 In 2023, the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office received a total of $410,512.00 in grants from multiple sources that have either partially or in whole paid for equipment, training, supplies, upgrades, computer programs, and body armor. According to Sheriff Darrell Dix, “In December of 2022, we brought Deputy Lisa Perkins on board as our Grant Writing Manager. She has since obtained a Level 1 Finance Officer Certification and Grant Writing Certification from The University of Georgia, and also graduated in the top 10 of her Jail Officer Training class from the Georgia Public Safety Training Center.” “We have already received grant awards this year totaling $122,605.00 for upgrades to equipment for our detention facility that will help our current projects directed at plumbing issues, HVAC, and air purification. For years and years, the detention facility was neglected and horribly maintained. Right now, a new jail facility is out of the question due to the cost, so we are continuing to repair, update, upgrade, replace equipment and infrastructure, and improve its overall cleanliness. We are trying to keep it going for as long as we can. Future grants we apply for, if awarded, will help us keep moving forward with these and other projects across the agency.” Grants that have been awarded to the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office are from the Gary Sinise Foundation, Georgia Power Georgia Dept. Public Health/Georgia Southern Purifiers, Southern Rivers, Dept. of Justice Bullet Proof Vest Partnership Grant, ACCG, The Thorpe Foundation, GEMA, Governor’s Office of Hwy Safety (HEAT), The Department of Justice, Georgia Confinement Facilities Project, National Police Association, and the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC). “The grants Deputy Perkins has worked on have helped the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office obtain equipment and fund projects that would have been either unobtainable or would have been very long-term goals. She has taken the role to heart, hit the ground running, and as you can see, has really knocked it out of the park. We are proud of her and the job she does.”