Green Cove Rotary hosts sheriff’s office staff members

Chaplain Joseph Williams, Lt. Charles Harwood and Jail Program Services Supervisor Patty Atkinson spoke to the Green Cove Springs Rotary Club during the club’s Monday, Nov. 28 meeting.

Williams told the civic group he started with the sheriff’s office five years ago as a detention deputy. He is also an assistant pastor and youth pastor at St. Luke Baptist Church in Jacksonville.

“My passion is people,” he told the club. “I love this county. This county has treated me very well. I also love our men and women in uniform and those behind the scenes making everything work. It’s a pleasure to be able to work with them.”

Harwood told the club that the county’s jail was originally built in 1972 with 60 beds. A 1988, 70-bed addition increased capacity to 130, and a 1996 project added 348 more beds. Harwood said an expansion underway soon will add another 80 beds in space formally occupied by sheriff’s office administrative staff. 

“That will probably get us through, just guessing, probably to about 2035 to 2045,” he said. Harwood added that when the office administration completely leaves the building and the entire structure is dedicated to housing inmates, the jail capacity will be near 900.

“That should carry Clay County, at the current growth, to roughly 2075, 2080,” he said, “before we’d have to reconsider looking at something bigger unless growth continues to explode and something crazy happens.”

Harwood said detention deputies work the toughest beat in the county.

“Everybody we deal with on a daily basis is dangerous and has the ability to hurt us,” he said.

Atkinson handed out a sheet that described 11 programs available to inmates.  The document describes the motto of the jail programs department as: make them better than they were when they came in.

Programs include Alcoholics Anonymous, Active Parenting, Anger Management, Art, Life Skills, Substance Abuse and Thinking of Change.