The rebuilding of the Texas County Sheriff’s Department’s roster is complete.
Interim Sheriff Rowdy Douglas, who was sworn last Tuesday morning, said six deputies have joined his staff to give the department a full roster of 10. Reuben Salazar, Brent Honeycutt and Greg Ryan were the first additions – hired by acting sheriff Marie Lasater – and by the end of the week, Dameon Shaw, Kenny Reynolds and Jason Wink were hired.
Four of the six new deputies – Salazar, Honeycutt, Shaw and Reynolds – resigned in 2018 under the tenure of James Sigman, the county’s former sheriff who faces six felony charges. Douglas also resigned during that time.
Douglas has also re-hired Heather Reynolds as officer manager/secretary as well as dispatchers Chris Maddux, Cheryl Reeder, Charlie Jones and Gene Foster. Jones will work overnight while Foster is a part-time employee. All five left under Sigman.
Kyle Gross, of Cabool, is the department’s new dispatch supervisor. Scott Lyons, of Licking, will continue as jail administrator. He was the second employee to fill the role after Jennifer Tomaszewski, who faces the same felony charges as Sigman, was promoted to chief deputy.
“We’ll get everything lined out. I’ll get the right guys in here and the right dispatchers,” Douglas said. “I want people to know that they can call us.”
Shaw was the first of eight deputies to depart under Sigman when he left in late 2017 for a position with the Howell County Sheriff’s Department. Honeycutt, the Cabool fire chief and a reserve officer with the Cabool Police Department, resigned Jan. 16. Reynolds departed in February to join the Houston Police Department and Salazar, who worked seven years with the sheriff’s department, left later in the spring.
“If things change, I’d be back in a second,” Honeycutt said when he departed.
Ryan worked four years with the Texas County Sheriff’s Department. He joined the Houston Police Department in October 2015 and resigned in July.
Wink is a recent graduate of the Sheriff’s Academy who was a deputy with the Shannon County Sheriff’s Department.
“I’m sorry for what happened with James, but we’ve got to move on,” Douglas said. “We’ve got to rebuild every aspect of the department.”