Sheriff’s Office holds annual awards banquet, dinner

The Sequoyah County Sheriff’s Office held its annual awards banquet and Christmas dinner on Dec. 19.

Sheriff Larry Lane Jr. said he has held this banquet and dinner every year since taking office in 2017.

“It has grown every year and become a really great event,” Lane said. “This year we had about 150 people in attendance. It’s hard to believe that this is my sixth Christmas as Sequoyah County Sheriff.”

“We are so blessed to have so many supporters from all over the county, that help sponsor our banquet and dinner to recognize the great work being done by our deputies, jailers and employees, in what has become an increasingly difficult profession to be in,” Lane said.

Lane said most of these awards are voted on by the Sheriff’s Office employees.

“So being selected is truly an honor for these men and women,” Lane said. “They have been chosen by their peers and coworkers as the most valuable person for their particular position.”

This year’s award winners were as follows: Deputy of the Year: Austin Blackfox Detention Officer of the Year: Autumn Reed Dispatcher of the Year: Sarah Beller Investigator of the Year: Cindy Smith Employee of the Year: Sarah Ridinger School Resource Officer of the Year: Randy Taylor Reserve Deputy of the Year: Trevor Charlton

Sheriff’s Star Award: Mark Choate Meritorious Service Commendation: Dana Stites Meritorious Service Commendation: Gene Wheat Lane went on to say that the Sheriff’s Star award is one award he started a few years ago.

“I personally choose a deputy, investigator or employee that best represents our department in a positive and professional manner. In our profession we very rarely get compliments, thank yous or “atta boys” from the public,” Lane said.

The Sheriff said normally, the only calls or letters the Sheriff’s office gets are when a citizen wants to complain about a deputy or employee.

“But occasionally, there are a few that call me when they have had positive interactions with one of our deputies,” he said.

“Deputy Choate is a great asset to our department. He’s a hard worker, cares about his job, this department, and the people of this community,” he said. “He handles his calls professionally and never complains.”

Lane said the meritorious service awards were chosen by himself and Undersheriff Charles House. The awards are given to employees who consistently work hard and go above and beyond to make the department run.

“This year, we chose Investigator Gene Wheat for his relentless hard work on a three-year-old homicide investigation,” Lane said. “Gene has such passion for his job as an investigator, he’s usually the first one in the door in the mornings and is a ball of energy all day long.”

Dana Stites also received a Meritorious commendation for her non-stop hard work and dedication to the department.

“Anytime we call her for problems in the jail, day or night, she’ll get up and come take care of the problem,” he said.

Lane noted that in the last five years, the department has grown in so many ways.

“The department has added an extra deputy per shift and has been able to give pay raises to deputies and jailers,” he said. “Although we’re still one of the lowest paid law enforcement agencies in the county, we’re finally getting to a level that the deputies don’t have to get food stamps or government assistance to make it through the month.”

The Sheriff said the department also recently installed all new cameras and computer equipment in the jail and courthouse, purchased a new fingerprint machine, a new X-Ray machine for the jail, and have purchased several new patrol units for the deputies, mostly using drug forfeiture money instead of taxpayer funds.

“Undersheriff Charles House does a great job managing and overseeing the budget. In my first year as Sheriff, we didn’t have very much money and there were so many expenses, fines and needs, it was really stressful. But due to the good budgeting, management, and the continued savings from our maintenance shop, we have really come a long way,” Lane said “ Right now, we have three times as much money in our accounts as there has ever been. A few years ago, we built our maintenance shop and we now do all our own vehicle maintenance, such as oil changes, brakes, tire service, as well as installing all our own emergency equipment on the patrol vehicles. This maintenance shop alone has saved us about $7,000 per unit, per year. With those savings, we can purchase one extra new patrol unit per year,” he said.

“I am very proud of all our employees for continually standing by our department, as well as me personally, through all the many adversities and tragedies we have endured in the last four years,” Lane said. “They just keep working their tails off to make our Sheriff’s Office better. I am truly blessed.”

Lane said he would also like to thank the following sponsors for making this year’s banquet possible: Armory Outfitters, Rick’s Tires-Muldrow, Local Bank of Sallisaw, Cato Creek Cattle Company, Phillip Green LLC, O’Neal Real Estate, Sallisaw Walmart, Firstar Bank, Armstrong Bank, Zoom Bail Bonds, Akins BBQ, Merrill Bonding, Forever Memories Funeral Home, Scoufous Law Offices, Sullivan Law Offices, Sloan Farms, Jodie Lee’s Furniture, Rocky’s Corner Pawn & Gun, Victory Pawn & Gun, Bobby Long and Rosa Scott, Northeastern Health Systems, East End Liquors, Hog Creek Towing, DIGI Systems, Tractor Supply, City Tele Coin, SCA Title & Abstract, Subway in Roland, Manning Pest Control, Sequoyah County Commissioners Ray Watts, Jim Rogers and Beau Burlison, along with several other individual donors.