TYLER, Texas — Smith County received a 2024 County Best Practices Award from the Texas Association of Counties for its detention officer program that partners with Tyler ISD to improve recruitment efforts.
According to a news release, the program is the first of its kind in Texas. On Tuesday, TAC representatives presented the award to the Smith County Sheriff’s Office during Commissioners Court.
The program was developed by Smith County Sheriff's Office Chiefs Jimmy Jackson and Gary Pinkerton to prepare high school students with an interest in criminal justice careers to take the state jailer certification exam once they graduate.
Through the partnership, students can take a basic county corrections course in high school at the Tyler ISD Career and Technology Center. Since the program started a year ago, four detention officers are working full-time for Smith County while taking college courses after graduating high school. The sheriff's office also started a jail academy in-house to certify jailers at a lower cost and quicker rate.
According to the county, these programs have already greatly reduced the amount of detention officer vacancies.
“Counties face a wide array of challenges, and they sometimes have to get creative to solve them,” TAC Executive Director Susan M. Redford said. “Smith County’s Detention Officer Program is a top example of this. We applaud their effort.”
Smith County is one of just nine Texas counties to receive the 2024 Best Practices Award. The honor recognizes exceptional achievement in county government every two years. The news release said Jackson and Pinkerton have been contacted by several counties in Texas wanting to implement a similar program.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CBS19 is available live and on-demand on your favorite TV streaming device, anytime from anywhere in the U.S.
The free CBS19+ app for Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and smart TV devices features a 24/7 stream with the latest from CBS19.
In addition to the live stream, watch the latest from CBS19 on-demand, along with additional programming from our partners at TEGNA (like Verify, "Murder at My Door" and "In the News") and Locked On Sports, plus special collections from CBS19 like Under the Lights, Hooked on East Texas and CBS19 Originals.
DOWNLOAD ON ROKU
Add the free CBS19 channel by searching for CBS19 East Texas News in the Roku Channel Store on your device, or add the CBS19+ Roku channel using this link.
DOWNLOAD ON FIRE TV
Search for the free CBS19+ app in the Amazon App Store directly on your Fire TV or Fire TV Stick, or add the CBS19+ Fire TV app using this link.
DOWNLOAD ON APPLE TV
Learn more about the free CBS19+ app in the Apple TV App Store and download directly from your Apple TV device.
DOWNLOAD ON YOUR SMART TV
The CBS19+ app is also now available directly on "smart" or "connected" televisions made by Samsung, LG and Philips, as well as televisions with Android TV. Search for CBS19 East Texas News in your television's app store to add CBS19+.
OTHER FREE WAYS TO WATCH
The CBS19+ 24/7 stream can be viewed on any desktop or mobile web browser anytime on the Watch page here on cbs19.tv.
You can also watch CBS19 News streaming live on the free CBS19 mobile app for your smartphone:
- CBS19 app on iOS in the Apple App Store
- CBS19 app on Android in the Google Play Store