CONNECTING WITH KIWANIS AND THE COMMUNITY

Weakley County Sheriff Terry McDade, who has been employed in the county since 1999, visited the Martin Kiwanis Club on February 22 and shared insight into the work of his office where he oversees 12 deputies for the entire county. Elected in November 2022, Sheriff McDade discussed the rigors of campaigning in this county, and at first his objective was at first to visit every home.  He soon realized, however, that he could not do that, but he did visit 6,000 homes. He discussed the importance of Student Resource Officers (SROs) at all the schools and said that he would like to have another officer at Dresden Elementary School.  Sheriff McDade also discussed the importance of training for his staff and mentioned his desire for pay increases for officers in order to keep staff members here in Weakley County instead of seeing them leave for better pay in a neighboring county.  He talked about the successful work program in the county jail and the kind of work offered in the program to those in jail for non-violent crimes. Kiwanis members appreciated Sheriff McDade’s forthright answers to numerous questions. Sheriff McDade is pictured here with Kiwanis president Ann Gathers, who presented him with a certificate of appreciation showing that a donation is being made in his honor to Martin Public Library.