Etowah County Sheriff Jonathon W Horton is excited to announce at the beginning of the new school year, through a partnership with the City of Hokes Bluff that Hokes Bluff Elementary School will have a School Resource Officer.

This new School Resource Officer will be funded through a grant that the City of Hokes Bluff has received. Right now this position has guaranteed funding for two years.

The Resource Officer will be a Deputy from the Sheriff’s Office but paid for through the City of Hokes Bluff.

“I am Honored and excited to provide a School Resource Officer to Hokes Bluff Elementary School, in addition to the School Resource Officer that is assigned to Hokes Bluff High and Middle School.  The funding is made possible by The Mayor and Council of Hokes Bluff to provide the Deputy to the Elementary School for the duration of the Construction of the new Elementary School, while the students will attend in mobile class rooms on site, for extra security.  Anytime we can add DARE certified Deputies to any of our County Schools, we are pleased, it gives us that much more opportunity to make a positive impression and/or be a resource to a child in need and  keep our children safe and ease the minds of their parents, while their Children attend School.  We are all in this together.  This is in addition to 13 Deputies that currently are funded tri-part by the Sheriff, County Commission and Board of Education” Sheriff Horton Stated.   

 “We have contemplated over the last 2-3 years how we could provide an SRO at our Elementary School, realizing the difficulty of one officer covering 2 different campuses. With the American Rescue Plan money that has been made available to our cities and knowing the strains of public health, safety and wellbeing of our students and teachers, we put together a plan to fund this Officer to be a constant present at our Elementary School. We are proud to partner with the ECSO to make this priority come to pass for our community” Mayor Scott Reeves said.

Etowah County Schools also receives help from other municipalities to fill SRO spots. Rainbow City, Southside, and Altoona provide at least one law enforcement officers as an SRO in Etowah County schools.