When most people hear the words Daviess County Sheriff’s Office, they tend to immediately think of badges, lights and sirens and deputies. However, there is a whole other element to the DCSO that few people are aware of — and that element happens to include seven women.
“Our clerical staff is absolutely essential to the success of our office’s mission,” said Sheriff Keith Cain. “Whether collecting taxes, logging civil process papers, conducting vehicle inspections, filing CCDW applications or any of the many additional duties they perform, their support services are invaluable.”
Heather Rouse has been Sheriff Cain’s administrative assistant for nearly five years. While it appears that she does a little bit of everything, Rouse’s primary responsibility may surprise some.
“My main job is to take care of him and anything he asks me to do. He has so much to keep up with with the NSA, and with all of the boards he’s on,” Rouse said. “If he needs me to type up a paper, I type up a paper. If he wants me to lay out his flight itinerary to China, I do that. But, also, when a call comes in, I take care of Carry Concealed Deadly Weapons (CCDW) for the state of Kentucky.”
Rouse said most people take the instructions to contact the Sheriff’s office literally and expect to speak with the Sheriff about CCDW matters. While the Sheriff does stand by an open door policy, it is Rouse that typically handles the CCDW applications and renewals, as well as any questions concerning the new CCDW laws and what they mean.
“It says to contact the Sheriff’s office,” Rouse said. “They automatically just assume that when it says the Sheriff’s office, the Sheriff’s going to do it.”
Rouse also maintains personnel files, trainings and handles the applications, as well as the contacting of veterans for Honor Flight. While Rouse keeps things running smoothly upstairs, there is a whole crew of ladies downstairs whose jobs are equally as important.
“The main role of all the office staff downstairs is taxes and tax collection,” said Administrative Lieutenant Scott Wedding. “Some of the other things that our office staff does that a lot of times people wouldn’t think about is vehicle inspections. Anytime you purchase a vehicle from out of state, we have to inspect that vehicle and make sure it meets Kentucky state standards. They perform them. While all of the deputies know how to perform them as well, the majority of vehicle inspections are performed by the office staff.
Wedding said the ladies in the tax office are also responsible for preparing all of the court papers for serving, whether they are civil suits, criminal cases, parking tickets or child custody cases — that all goes through the Sheriff’s department. Not to mention, they perform background checks and fingerprints for employment and maintain all accident reports.
“Even though our office staff has not gone through the Department of Criminal Justice, they have to be knowledgeable of every aspect of law enforcement because you never know what’s going to walk in there and what question’s going to be presented,” Wedding said.
Shelly O’Bryan, who has been with the DCSO for the past 17 years, took over as financial manager in August 2018 when “financial guru” Joe Glenn retired after 44 years of service.
“Shelly O’Bryan is the financial manager of the DCSO,” Wedding said. “Her other big main role, other than taxes, is the budget — working with Fiscal Court, working with grants, working with the supervisor of each division. As far as purchasing, ordering, whether it’s office supplies or law enforcement equipment, things of that nature.”
The deputy clerks that work alongside O’Bryan are Brooke Smith, McKenzie Eaves and Alicia Evans. While the three have been with the DCSO varying amounts of time, each has their own skill set to add to the job.
Smith started with the DCSO in 2004 and worked as a dispatcher and central dispatcher before applying for an opening back with the department in 2015. Smith is considered a tier hire now, and has taken over several of O’Bryan’s roles, including payroll, after Glenn’s retirement.
“The Sheriff’s office to me is family — that’s really how I feel,” Smith said. “I love this place. I came back home.”
Although Smith said she will be a dispatcher at heart forever, she appreciates the opportunity she has to serve the community in a different way.
“People think it’s all law enforcement,” Smith said. “A great part of this job is helping the community.”
Eaves’ and Evans’ basic roles are to “take care of anything that comes through the door, including calls on the tax line, vehicle inspections and taxes.”
Sheriff Cain reiterated the importance of these ladies and the fact that they often serve as the face of the Daviess County Sheriff’s Office.
“They are often the first contact with a person coming into the office that needs help,” Cain said. “That positive interaction sets the tone for all the subsequent contacts our deputies or detectives will have with these individuals. These ladies are definitely the ‘unsung heroes’ of our office.”
The other unsung heroes of the DCSO that most people do not have contact with unless they are having an emergency, are the ladies that work in dispatch.
“For our patrol officers, they couldn’t do their job without them,” Wedding said. “It’s hand in hand.”
Dona Johnson, Missy Kirkpatrick and Carolyn McDaniel ensure that dispatch runs smoothly. Johnson has been with the DCSO for 18 years and not only knows all of the ins-and-outs of dispatch, but also handles the citations, awards and criminal histories for the DCSO.
“When we incorporated dispatch to a central dispatch, the Sheriff did not want an automated pickup, he wanted a real live person answering the phone, “ Wedding said. “So that is their No. 1 goal, from 8 to 4:30 there is somebody down there answering the phone — you have a real voice, a real person on the line, when you call the Daviess County Sheriff’s Office.”
