By Barry Porterfield
It’s a time for reflection for Bill Roady on both his recent service as Garvin County’s sheriff and adventures ahead as he prepares to step away and into retirement.
Roady’s last official duty as sheriff will be to watch his replacement, Undersheriff Steve Brooks, be sworn into the office Monday morning.
He announced in late March his intention to serve through May before retiring because of his need to address some health concerns, in addition to his desire to spend more time with his wife, LaDonna, who retired from her longtime banking job in Elmore City last December.
Roady’s retirement marks the end of a law enforcement career spanning more than two decades with the last 6 1/2 years of it spent as the leader of the sheriff’s office here.
“I’ve achieved what I set out to do here and that was to bring us up into what I call the 21st century,” Roady said while seated in his office for one of the last times as sheriff.
Specifically, Roady is referring to the more intense training required of his staff and what he calls the “quality of employee.”
In fact, Roady said the first thing he did when he became sheriff was to work to bring in more technology and increase the level of employee training.
Another important part of his effort in overseeing the sheriff’s department is bringing a “team concept” to it all.
“We have got well trained, professional people here,” he said. “We’ve got young people in here with young ideas, very professional, well trained.”
He’s quick to give his replacement, Steve Brooks, plenty of credit for the upgrades seen in the department since he took over as sheriff.
“He was very instrumental in putting together what we’ve got now,” Roady said.
“Steve has been my undersheriff since day one and basically has been trained to step in as sheriff.
“He can do the job. He’s proved to me that he could, and he’s proved I think to the majority of the people here in this county that he can do it.”
Reflecting back on when he first started as sheriff here, Roady said one of his biggest challenges came in the area of securing immigration-related inmates kept in the county jail.
Roady said the money generated by housing these inmates is an essential part in supplementing the department’s regular budget. Without that funding the sheriff said the number of deputies and staff would be cut in half.
A continued “team” effort ultimately paid off in a big way as the department is firmly secure in the funding that comes from transporting and housing immigration inmates.
Now that Roady, 63, moves into his retirement years part of his plans are to continue his work with the Chaplain’s Committee of the Oklahoma Sheriff’s Association.
Roady currently serves as the chairperson of that committee, which works to ensure chaplains are available to minister to and counsel with inmates housed in all county jails across the state, in addition to the deputies working there.
Although he won’t be the sheriff, Roady also plans to continue serving on occasion as a reserve deputy that transports inmates when needed.
Yet another love of Roady’s will also be to continue performing at gospel singings.
