Recognizing Sheriff Kevin Sproul

Floor Speech

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Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Speaker. I rise today to extend my personal congratulations and to honor and recognize a dedicated public servant and community leader, Sheriff Kevin Sproul, on the occasion of his retirement as Sheriff of Dougherty County. Georgia. The community will gather in Albany. Georgia on September 28. 2024. to celebrate his retirement after 42 years of service at the Dougherty County Sheriffs Office.

A resident of Dougherty County since he was 7 years of age, Sheriff Sproul graduated from Albany High School, received an associate's degree in Social Work from Darton College, and a bachelor's degree in Organizational Leadership from LaGrange College at Albany. He also earned the Master Level 5 Gang Expert Certificate in 2007 from the National Gang Crime Research Center in Chicago, Illinois.

Sheriff Sproul started his career at the Dougherty County Sheriff's Office on September 8, 1982. For over four decades, he has worked in virtually every one of its divisions, including jail operations, protecting our roadways. and mentoring the community's young people. Sheriff Sproul understands that fighting crime and ensuring public safety starts with educating our students on character and instilling within them the values they need to be good citizen leaders. Over the course of his career in law enforcement, he has taught over 16,300 students in partnership with the Dougherty County School System.

In 2008, Mr. Sproul launched his campaign for Sheriff with the spirit of service and justice held close to his heart. He is now finishing his fourth term as Dougherty County's top law enforcement official, a position he has utilized to increase the efficiency of his agency, improve the quality of life for inmates, and make Dougherty County a safer place to live and conduct business.

As Sheriff, Sproul made a point to engage with and collaborate with leaders from across the state in order to improve public safety for all. He is a member of Georgia Gang Investigators Association (G.G.I.A.) and has served on the G.R.E.A.T. (Gang Resistance Education and Training) National Training Team. He has also served on the Stop the Violence Board, Regional Police Academy Board in Tifton, GA, and the GBI Regional Drug Task Force Board, as well as the Albany Civil Rights Board and the SOWEGA Council on Aging Board.

Sheriff Sproul has contributed so much to his community and accomplished so much in his life, but none of it would have been possible without the Grace of God, and the love and support of his wife of 41 years, Vicki, their three children. and one granddaughter.

George Washington Carver once said ``How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and the strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these.'' Sheriff Kevin Sproul has embodied the spirit of that quote throughout his career and his community is stronger and more secure thanks to his unwavering leadership.

On a personal note, I am blessed to call Sheriff Sproul my friend, and it has been a pleasure working with him during my time in elective office. Kevin never told me just what I wanted to hear; he always told me what he felt I needed to hear. I will always cherish the fidelity of his friendship and the timbre of his character.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join my wife, Vivian, and me, along with the more than 765,000 people of Georgia's Second District, in extending our sincerest appreciation and best wishes to Sheriff Kevin Sproul upon the occasion of his retirement. We wish him and his family all the best as they begin the next chapter of their lives.

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