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Kent County to shift detention-center operations to sheriff; sergeant promoted
Summary
After a two-hour closed session, Kent County officials said they will move the county detention center under the Kent County Sheriff’s Office and approved the promotion of Sergeant Shepherd to director of operations, with staffing levels to be further evaluated.
Kent County officials announced after a two-hour closed session that the county intends to move operations of the Kent County detention center under the Kent County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Dennis Hickman.
The officials said the transfer will be finalized through a resolution and additional legal documents. “It is our intention to move the operations of the detention center under the umbrella of the sheriff’s office under Sheriff Dennis Hickman,” Speaker 1, a staff member, said after the closed session.
Officials also discussed staffing changes and personnel moves. They said staffing levels at the detention center will be evaluated further and that a later decision will determine whether to fill vacant positions. Staff at the detention center will be assigned to permanent shifts, the speakers said.
Two corporals volunteered to move to day shift; officials said those corporals accepted what was described as a demotion and will receive salary adjustments to reflect their new positions. “Those corporals, as a result of them accepting voluntarily their demotion, will be moved salary wise to reflect their new positions,” Speaker 1 said.
The board moved and seconded a promotion of Sergeant Shepherd to director of operations at grade 10 with benefits, effective Jan. 25. The motion was called, seconded and approved; multiple members said “aye,” and the presiding speaker said, “The ayes have it.”
Officials characterized the actions as the result of the closed-session discussion; they said the operational transfer to the sheriff’s office still requires formal paperwork and a resolution before it is final. Staffing evaluations and the question of filling vacancies were described as pending follow-up rather than completed decisions.
What happens next: county staff will prepare the resolution and related legal documents to effect the transfer of operations to the sheriff’s office and will return with staffing recommendations; no timeline for the resolution’s publication or enactment was provided in the transcript.
