AAC F A M I L Y & F R I E N D S
» » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » »
larger jail that would meet the county’s needs for at least the next 30 years. A proposal for a 1-cent sales tax increase to fund the new jail failed at the ballot box in April 2015. “Tat is one of the hardest things that I dealt with as sheriff,”
Godfrey said. “When you’ve got a 26-bed jail and you’ve got 30 people in there, what four are you going to let out? It was hard to do the right thing, because people want people locked up but won’t pass a tax for a new jail. It really fell on me to make those decisions,” Godfrey said. Godfrey had more success with other priorities: placing school
resource officers at every school in Polk County, responding to every call whether it came from within the Mena city limits or from the county, and recovering stolen property. He also became active in the Arkansas Sheriffs’ Association,
serving as legislative chair during the 2015 legislative session and later as sergeant-at-arms. “It was an eye opener,” Godfrey said of the 2015 session. “I was all the way over in Polk County, not in Little Rock that much. I knew my senator and represen- tatives, but I didn’t know many of the others. It was a learning curve to get to meet them and work with them. Our director then, Ronnie Baldwin, was huge in making that transition better. I came over here and just basically followed his lead.” By early 2016, Godfrey had decided he would not run for a
“H
state of Arkansas in mind.” As director of the Sheriffs’ Association, Godfrey once again finds himself in a position to carry on the good work of the per- son who came before him. “I’ll give high praise to Ronnie Baldwin,” Godfrey said. “He
brought us so far as an association — with training and with the growth of the association. Legislatively he was huge. My priority would be to keep the work he’s done going.” For now, that means focusing on the 2017 legislative session and the association’s push for crisis intervention training and ser- vices. It’s a need Godfrey has experienced firsthand. “In Polk County, we had characters in town that we knew had
e’s committed to the sheriffs of Arkansas, and he has a high standard of integrity ... He’s got what’s best for the state of Arkansas in mind.
— Newton County Sheriff Keith Slape, president of Arkansas Sheriffs’ Association
”
fourth term as Polk County sheriff. He had his 30 years in with the Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System, and he was ready to move on from the day-to-day grind of hands-on law enforcement. When he found out that the Arkansas Sheriffs’ As- sociation was looking for a deputy director to help Baldwin, who was fighting cancer, he applied and was hired. He started in Au- gust, just one week before Baldwin passed away. Godfrey was named as his permanent replacement in October. It was an easy choice, said Newton County Sheriff Keith Slape,
current president of the sheriffs’ association’s executive board. Slape has known Godfrey since 2010 and said he hopes Godfrey will run the sheriffs’ association the same way he ran the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. “He’s committed to the sheriffs of Arkansas, and he has a high standard of integrity,” Slape said. “He’s got what’s best for the
mental health issues,” Godfrey said. “We tried to work around them, but when they go into a store and scare a bunch of people or do something against the law, your first instinct is to put them in jail. And when they’re in jail, they’re not getting counseling or taking medications as they should, and it just compounds the problem.” Another priority for the sheriffs’ association is working
with other
county-elected officials to make changes to record- keeping practices so that more records can be fully digitized and some kinds of records won’t have to be kept as long. “Tere’s cooperation
between the sheriff’s as- sociation, the county
judges’ association, and the treasurers’ association,” Godfrey said. “We don’t just stand alone.” Godfrey said he’ll also focus on getting all of the state’s 75 sher- iffs to be more involved with the association. “One of our main missions is for our association to be a united
voice,” he said. Godfrey also will be spending a lot of time in the car. He’s
rented an apartment in Little Rock, but spends weekends in Mena with his wife, Amanda. Teir daughter, Ashlyn, recently graduated from Arkansas State University and lives in Benton- ville, and their son, Justin, is a freshman at the University of Ar- kansas. Even though the commute is a lengthy one, Godfrey said he hopes to be making it for a long time. “I plan on being here as long as they’ll have me,” he said. “At some point I will retire and step away, but right now I’m still young enough and still excited enough about what I do that I feel like I can do a good job.”
www.arcounties.org COUNTY LINES, FALL 2016 27
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60