Written by Amanda Coers – Sheriff Vance Hill spoke with the Commissioners’ Court on Monday, December 19th, to recommend employee changes within his command staff. Sheriff Hill explained the changes would help manage the Brown County Jail, by promoting three current members of his department.
The sheriff proposed to promote James Stroope, who currently holds the rank of Captain of Operations, to Chief Deputy of Enforcement, and Jail Administrator, Captain Becky Caffey, to Chief Deputy of Corrections. With these promotions, each will have 35 employees to supervise.
“Both are experts in their field, with Stroope on the enforcement side, and Caffey on the corrections side,” said Sheriff Hill.
There will no longer be a captain of operations position within the sheriff’s department once the promotions take effect. With the removal of that position and by promoting his current staff, the sheriff explained it could potentially save the county around $6,000 annually. Also recommended for promotion was Jail Lieutenant Les Karnes to become Captain of the Jail.
The promotions were unanimously approved by the Brown County Commissioners’ Court and will be effective January 1st.
The three promoted officers have been with the sheriff’s department for over a decade, with both Stroope and Caffey serving the department for 10 years, and Karnes serving the department for 14 years. Each are looking forward to their new responsibilities.
“It’s going to be nice to get our feet on the ground and get going,” said Stroope.
“We want to make sure we have supervisors who can get out there on the floor with the officers and the inmates,” said Caffey.
