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| A new sheriff in town |
| By oaoa.com - JON VANDERLAAN |
| Published: 06/21/2011 |
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Winkler commissioners appoint chief deputy to sheriff position With an opening for the top position in the Winkler County Sheriff’s Office, the county commissioners promoted the chief deputy into the position during a special meeting Monday. George Keely, who has been at the office for 19 years and has served as acting sheriff since Tuesday, was appointed as the new sheriff. The county was left without a sheriff after Robert Roberts was convicted last week on two counts each of felony misuse of official information and retaliation and two misdemeanor counts of official oppression. Roberts’ conviction was in connection with the Winkler County Memorial Hospital nurses’ whistle blowing scandal. County Attorney Scott Tidwell and Dr. Rolando Arafiles still face charges relating to the prosecution of the nurses. But Keely doesn’t want his tenure as sheriff to be marred by decisions of past leadership. “I don’t want to dwell on it,” he said. “I just want to look forward. The more you talk about the past, the more trauma it causes.” Keely said he is service-oriented and will put his own management staff in place. The law enforcement center and sheriff’s office consists of 32 employees and a jail dog, he said. Eleven of those employees are peace officers, 17 work in the jail and four are cooks. That adds up to more than 32 Despite being ready to move forward, Keely acknowledged he doesn’t have an easy road ahead of him given the transgressions of the previous officeholder. “Sure it’s going to be difficult,” he said. “(But) there’s 8,000 people in Winkler County and I know 7,990 of them.” Roberts also presents a new challenge for the jail, being there as an inmate instead of the head of the office. Keely said he is confident the jail and Roberts will be able to stick to the rules with him behind bars. He also said Roberts will spend the full 100 days in jail with no potential for early release because of good behavior. And with the state watching over Roberts’ time in jail, there’s no room for mistakes. Read More. |
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