LANIER CO., Ga. – Four-term Lanier County Sheriff Nick Norton has nearly 30 years in the trenches of law enforcement. Gov. Kemp appointed him to the Board of Community Supervision on Tuesday, January 14, 2020.
The Georgia Department of Community Supervision is responsible for supervising about 180,000 adult offenders in Georgia communities.
On January 16, 2020, Gov. Brian Kemp named thirty appointments and conducted swearing-in ceremonies for 30 Georgians to serve on various state boards.
“It’s an oversight committee,” Sheriff Norton told Valdosta Today Thursday. “An oversight committee.”
Sheriff Norton has known Gov. Kemp since he was a contractor in Athens many years ago.
“Him appointing me and me being a Democrat should show people he’s not interested in party lines,” Sheriff Norton said. “He’s interested in getting things done and getting the right people.”
Sheriff Norton has always been considered an “outside-of-the-box” thinker and leader. Once he was elected sheriff he took on the challenge of upgrading the local jail and improving both inmate and public safety without the local taxpayers incurring lawsuits over the condition of the facility. He brought in civil liberties advisors for their feedback. Norton was able to determine that he would never house an inmate in a facility that would provide less than adequate care just to cut a financial corner. This is considered one of the reasons Lanier County has been able to reduce the risk of lawsuits and the cost of building a new jail, Norton said.
Norton also worked aggressively to seek investigative and prosecution assistance of the federal government to reduce local prisoner housing cost, investigative burdens, and increase penalties for offenders which, he says, created dramatic results. Many long-term, high-level drug traffickers became the responsibility of the federal system, releasing the burden from the State of Georgia.
Prior to his law enforcement career, Norton worked for the late Governor E.D. Rivers, Southern Television and Radio (S.T.A.R.S.), Inc. where he learned business management and program development. He considers the skills he learned and honed working in communications have been an invaluable resource for him in politics and law enforcement by receiving grants and other assistance through the State and Federal governments.
‘This has made my sheriff’s office safer, I believe, and more technologically capable than many agencies much larger at a cost much lower than the norm,” Sheriff Norton said.
Appointments made by governors are for four years.
