ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION
The Administrative Division is responsible for the oversight of all functions of the Sheriff’s Office including Supervision of Personnel and Divisions, Budgetary, Accounts Receivable and Payable, Payroll, Sheriff’s Sales and Civil Process.
INVESTIGATIVE DIVISION
The Investigative Division is responsible for the investigation of felony and other serious cases that are outside the expertise and responsibilities of the Patrol Division. The Investigative Division is broken down into two main units; the Detective Bureau and the Sheriff’s Interdiction Unit.
DETECTIVE BUREAU
The Detective Bureau is comprised of highly trained detectives who investigate cases involving crimes against persons, sexually oriented crimes and property crimes. Detectives are responsible to collect and analyze evidence, interview victims, witness and potential suspects. They conduct surveillance, reconstruct crime scenes, obtain and executing search warrants.
To assist with the successful prosecution of crimes, several members of the bureau have specialized training in several areas, such as Crime Scene Investigations, Computer Voice Stress Analysis, Cell Phone Forensics, and Advanced Interviewing Techniques.
SHERIFF’S INTERDICTION UNIT (SIU)
The Sheriff’s Interdiction Unit is comprised of both quasi-uniformed and plain clothes detectives whose responsibility is to stop the illicit flow of illegal narcotics into Hocking County. This is done by a multifaceted approach including surveillance, traffic stops, knock-and-talk investigations and undercover operations.
The undercover operations are conducted by agents of the US 23 Major Crimes Task Force which is a multi-county narcotics task force covering Fayette, Highland, Hocking, Pickaway, Pike and Ross Counties.
PATROL DIVISION
Deputies assigned to the Patrol Division are uniformed deputies who are responsible for providing law enforcement services the unincorporated portions of Hocking County, and the incorporated portions of Hocking County which contract with the Sheriff’s Office for services, such as the Village of Laurelville. Hocking County encompasses 423 square miles and a population of nearly 30,000 residents. Their duties consist of responding to calls for service, investigating criminal and traffic complaints and serving civil process as well as assisting prisoner transport services.
VILLAGES OF LAURELVILLE & MURRAY CITY PATROL
The two Villages in Hocking County, Laurelville and Murray City, contract with the Hocking County Sheriff's Office to provide law enforcement services within the village limits instead of employing their own police force. Deputies assigned to the Village Patrol Division are uniformed deputies who are responsible for providing law enforcement services to the residents and the businesses there. Their duties consist of responding to calls for service and investigating criminal and traffic complaints. The Hocking County Sheriff's Office is grateful for the strong relationship fostered between our agency and the Village Councils, Mayors and the residents of the villages.
SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER (SRO)
The Sheriff’s Office has uniformed deputies assigned to the four Elementary schools located in the jurisdiction of the Sheriff’s Office. They provide security for the schools as well as instruct drug prevention classes and promote positive interaction between youth and law enforcement.
The Sheriff's Office also has a full-time K-9 Unit assigned as a School Resource Officer. K-9 Tiger is a fully trained Narcotics Detection K-9 and is utilized for education and drug prevention throughout the school district.
CANINE UNIT
The Hocking County Sheriff’s Office employs the use of fully trained and certified canines in their service to the residents and visitors; K-9 Dax, a Belgian Malinois, certified in narcotics and suspect tracking and apprehension; K-9 Zara, a Belgian Malinois, certified in narcotics and suspect tracking and apprehension; K-9 Ilka, a Belgian Malinois, certified in bomb and explosive detection; and K-9 Tiger, a Yellow Lab, certified in narcotics, and assigned to the School Resource Officer Division.
ANIMAL CONTROL UNIT - DOG WARDEN
The Hocking County Sheriff’s Office is responsible for the enforcement duties of Dog Warden. The Sheriff's Office assigns a Deputy Sheriff, full-time, to those duties. This deputy works in conjunction with the Hocking County Humane Society who are responsible for the care of all impounded dogs.
The Dog Warden and Humane Agents also work in a coordinated and combined manner to address animal cruelty cases within Hocking County.
MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES UNIT
The Hocking County Sheriff’s Office employs two deputies assigned to address the needs of persons with mental health conditions and issues. These two deputies have specialized training in Crisis Intervention Techniques and work with Hopewell Health to address individuals in crisis.
These deputies are also part of Project HOPE (Hocking Overdose Partnership Endeavor) and assist individuals struggling with drug addiction.
SPECIAL RESPONSE TEAM (SRT)
The Hocking County Sheriff’s Office is part of the Logan-Hocking Special Response Team which is comprised of officers from both the Sheriff’s Office and Logan Police Department. They assist with the execution of high risk search warrants, arrest warrants, hostage situations and other emergency situations.
WARRANTS, EXTRADITION AND PRISONER TRANSPORT DIVISION
The Hocking County Sheriff’s Office is one of five counties which make up the Southeastern Ohio Regional (SEORJ) Jail located in Nelsonville, and approximately 12 miles from Logan, where the Courts are located. In order to facilitate transporting inmates for court appearances, the Sheriff’s Office assigns two full-time deputies as transportation officers.
In addition to transporting inmates back and forth from the jail for court appearances, they are also responsible for transporting sentenced inmates to and from prison throughout Ohio and occasionally from other states.
9-1-1 COMMUNICATIONS CENTER
The Hocking County Sheriff’s Office is responsible for the oversight of the Hocking County 9-1-1 Center which provides direct dispatching service for the Hocking County Sheriff’s Office, Hocking County Emergency Medical Services and all City, Village and Township Fire Departments within Hocking County. Personnel assigned to the Communications Division and 9-1-1 Center are highly trained civilian dispatch operators who are certified to dispatch for law enforcement, medical and fire agencies. Dispatchers are responsible for receiving and dispatching calls for service, emergency 9-1-1 calls, maintaining dispatch logs, and entering warrants and protection orders into the Law Enforcement Automated System (LEADS).
SPECIAL DEPUTIES UNIT
The Sheriff’s Office relies on special deputies who are well-trained and OPOTA certified. Special deputies volunteer their time to serve the residents of Hocking County in areas special events, community activities and support for the full-time staff. They exercise the same authority as a full-time deputy.
COURTHOUSE SECURITY UNIT
The Sheriff is responsible for providing security for the Hocking County Courthouse as well as the Hocking County Hall of Justice. In order to provide a safe environment for both employees as well as those who are conducting business within the facilities, deputies are assigned full-time at these two locations to provide security operations.
VICTIM ADVOCATE
The Hocking County Sheriff’s Office employs a full-time Victim Advocate to assist victims involved in the criminal justice system. This advocate is well trained in all areas of victim rights and is a point-of-contact for victims that have questions involving their pending cases.
