Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2008
BARROW JOURNAL
PAGE 7A
Sheriff
Jud Smith
James Bonnemer
Career/Occupation: I am
a Georgia certified Peace
Officer employed by the City
of Winder Police Department
as a sergeant, currently
assigned to day shift patrol.
Describe your back
ground:
I am married to my won
derful wife, Stephanie, and
we have two children, Conyer
and Addison. We live in
Bethlehem and attend Winder
First Baptist Church. Both
Stephanie and I are gradu
ates of Winder-Barrow High
School.
I have a bachelor’s degree
in Criminal Justice from
Columbus State University
and a Master’s Degree in
Public Administration from
the Georgia Law Enforcement
Command College, also at
Columbus State University. I
have been in law enforcement
for 10 years.
The Sheriff’s Office
is projected to end fiscal
year 2008 over budget by
approximately $600,000.
As Sheriff, what measures
would you take to insure
your department ended the
year at or under budget?:
One of the most important
obligations the Sheriff has
is to formulate an accurate
assessment of the needs of
his/her department for the
next year.
This requires some degree
of vision, planning, and even
forecasting, and no one can
correctly anticipate every
possible contingency. This
is where management of the
budget comes into play.
As the Sheriff of Barrow
County, I will properly plan
for each year’s budget by
closely examining several key
indicators of growth, such as
county population, commer
cial, industrial and residential
growth, and crime trends. I
will evaluate the department’s
ability to meet
the needs of
the citizens in
a timely fash
ion. I will pre
pare for growth
within the
department by
working close
ly with county
commissioners
so that we will
be able to fund
long-term proj
ects on a year-by-year basis
and not all at once. In short,
I will manage the budget all
year long, and as I have said
many times during this cam
paign, I will be especially
diligent in searching for ways
to save the taxpayers money,
including through the pursuit
of law enforcement grants.
The current Sheriff was
asked twice to appear before
the Board of Commissioners
to explain why his depart
ment was ending the year
over budget. He declined.
Do you feel the Sheriff
should answer to the com
mission regarding budget
ary issues?: The county
commissioners have been
elected to their positions by
the people of Barrow County,
just like the Sheriff, and they
are entrusted with the author
ity to make financial deci
sions on behalf of the citizens
of the county.
As the Sheriff, I believe
that I, too, am accountable to
the taxpayers of the county in
matters of how I spend their
tax dollars, so, yes, I will
always make myself available
to the county commission to
answer questions regarding
the budget of the Sheriff’s
Office.
The Sheriff has a discre
tionary fund at his dispos
al. What do you feel is the
most appropriate use of this
fund?: That really depends
on what the “dis
cretionary fund”
is for. My under
standing of this
fund is that it is a
fund comprised
mainly of con
fiscations and
seizures, as often
occurs in drug
cases.
By law, any
funds that are
confiscated
by the Sheriff’s Office in a
drug case can be used by
the Sheriff’s Office but only
for the purpose of continuing
the enforcement of drug laws.
In other words, these funds
are supposed to be used for
very specific things, and that
depends on how they were
acquired.
If elected, what will your
top priorities be during the
first year of your admin
istration?: As I have stated
throughout my entire cam
paign, one of the first proj
ects that we will be involved
in will be the achievement
of State Certification for the
Barrow County Sheriff’s
Office.
This will require a compre
hensive review of the operat
ing procedures and policies
currently in effect at that
department and a revision or
rewriting of policies that do
not meet the necessary stan
dards.
I believe that by imple
menting policies and proce
dures that meet or exceed
State standards, the citi
zens of Barrow County will
receive higher quality law
enforcement service from the
Sheriff’s Office.
I would also like to imple
ment an illegal immigration
control program that will help
us deal with the problem of
illegal immigration right here
in Barrow County.
As I have stated previously,
I believe that the solution
to the national problem we
have with illegal immigration
starts at the local level.
People who enter our
nation illegally arc basically
“thumbing their noses" at our
society’s laws and are, by
definition, criminals the very
moment they cross our bor
ders.
When they come to our
community and commit other
criminal acts against our soci
ety we, as law enforcement
officials, have a duty and an
obligation to respond.
I support a program that
not only addresses the crimi
nal acts committed by illegal
immigrants, but one which
also allows for the deporta
tion of them out of our coun
try, returning them to their
countries of origin.
There are many things that
I hope to achieve in the first
year of my administration that
are too numerous to mention
in the space provided, but I
can say that I am interest
ed in creating an aggressive
recruiting and hiring program
so that we can be assured of
hiring only the most qualified
candidates for employment
with the Sheriff's Office. I
am interested in formulat
ing a new incentive plan that
will strive to retain the good,
professional, and conscien
tious deputies and deten
tion officers that are already
employed with the Sheriff's
Office.
And I am interested in cre
ating many more communi
ty awareness programs that
will not only help residents
and business owners prevent
crime in their area, but create
a more open and recogniz
able relationship between the
Sheriff’s Office employees
and the members of our com
munity.
SMITH
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Career/occu
pation: Barrow
County Deputy
Sheriff
Describe your
background:
I was born
March 29, 1945,
to an Air Force
father, Sidney
Bonnemer,
who was origi
nally from
New Orleans,
Louisiana, and homemak
er mother, Lois Danlyn
Williams Bonnemer Bowen,
who was from Winder. Her
parents, Broadus and Trellie
Williams were from Winder,
as were their parents. Winder
has always been my home,
and even while traveling the
world, Winder has remained
in my heart as my home base.
My family has been a part
of Barrow County for gen
erations. As a child, I attended
school in Pooler, Georgia;
Upper Heyford Air Force
Base, England; Great Falls,
Montana; Winder, Georgia;
Goose Bay, Labrador; Orlando,
Florida; and back to Winder,
Georgia, where I attended the
remainder of my schooling.
I enlisted in the U.S.
Navy on April 25, 1965 and
remained until April 1969.
During my enlistment, we did
three Mediterranean cruises
and three Caribbean cruises
with our objective being the
Ready Task Force: to protect
and assist Americans during
any international crisis, as
when we were called to assist
the American Military in the
Dominican Republic crisis.
I received an honorable dis
charge from the United States
Navy. I enlisted in the Air
Force in June 1971. During that
assignment, I was stationed at
Homestead AFB, Florida, at
the sea survival school. We
taught pilots and
crew members
how to survive at
sea once they left
their aircraft.
From there, I
went to Lowry
AFB, Denver,
Colorado,
and attended
Air Operation
Intelligence
School, and then
on to Hill AFB,
Utah, and worked with the
Para-rescue Unit until 1974,
when I transferred to the Air
Force Reserves at Dobbins
AFB, Marietta, Georgia.
During that 22 months enlist
ment, I was in the Security
Police. I received an honor
able discharge from the United
States Air Force.
In 1976, I enlisted in the
Georgia National Guard. I was
in the 151st Aviation Battalion,
Winder, Ga., which then
moved to Lawrenceville, Ga.
I transferred from the 151st
to the 111th Signal Battalion
in Winder, then later to 158th
Military Intelligence Unit at
the Winder-Barrow Airport. In
1984, I was transferred from
the National Guard to the U.S.
Navy Reserves, NAS Atlanta,
until 1994, when I retired -
with 23 years of military ser
vice.
I married my beautiful
wife Phyllis Elaine Wood
Bonnemer, who is from
Bethlehem, Ga., in March
1968. Her parents were Carl
and Maggie Ruth Wood, also
from Bethlehem. We have
four grown children and eight
grandchildren. In law enforce
ment, I have worked with the
Winder Police Department,
Gwinnett County Police
Department, and Barrow
County Sheriff’s Office.
See Bonnemer on page 11A
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