Divisions

The Newberry County Sheriff's Office is the primary law enforcement agency for the unincorporated areas of the county as well as several small incorporated towns. Their primary objective is the safety and well-being of the residents and visitors of the County of Newberry. The office is dedicated to keeping the County a safe and decent place to live, work, and visit. Our personnel is committed to preventing crime and disorder and enforce the laws of the County, State, and Nation.

The County of Newberry covers approximately 647 square miles of area in the Piedmont of South Carolina. Of this area, over 98% is rural with the remaining population in the City of Newberry near the center of the county, the Town of Prosperity north east of Newberry, and the Town of Whitmire in the north. These three municipalities each have their own Police Departments that serves their residents. The NCSO supports and assists these departments when requested and needed. In addition to these three municipalities, the Towns of Pomaria, Peak, Little Mountain, Silverstreet, and Chappells are other distinctive communities. NCSO provides any and all law enforcement services and support to these towns as they do to the rural populace. Each of these areas has a unique atmosphere, including traffic patterns and building types. For instance, the Town of Peak is almost completely residential with little street traffic, while the City of Newberry has many commercial structures with a lot of vehicle and pedestrian traffic.

In addition to the residents of the County, Newberry offers several recreation facilities and areas that draw many visitors, each requiring the same law enforcement services as the residents. There are two recreational lakes located along its borders: Lakes Murray and Greenwood. They both offer its visitors activities such as boating, fishing, and swimming as well as many other water sports. Sumter National Forest has a large park located within the county covering 56,595 acres of woodlands. This park provides hunting, fishing, primitive camping, nature trails, equestrian trails, picnic areas, and boat ramps for residents and visitors. Dreher Island State Park is located on the shores of Lake Murray. The Army Air Corps used it for training exercises in the 1940's. The park consists of campsites, cabins, sheltered picnic areas, nature trails, boat ramps, and rental slips.

The duties of the NCSO does not stop at the law enforcement duties necessary to protect and serve the citizens of the county, their property, and visitors. The office is responsible for Court Security to all judicial courts in the county. These courts include General Sessions, Magistrate Court, and Family Court. The Newberry County Detention Center is also under the jurisdiction of the Sheriff. This facility houses approximately 125 inmates, both pre-trial and post-trial. These inmates consists of prisoners of the county including the municipalities in the county as well as state prisoners.

Because of the geographic and demographic profile of the county, the Newberry County Sheriff's Office must consist of highly trained and specialized individuals. Of the 207 employees for the County of Newberry, the Sheriff's Office has the largest number of staff at 103 employees. Newberry Sheriff's Office provides law enforcement services and support to over 37,000 citizens as well as the hundreds of others who work, visit or pass through the county. This staff includes a force of 48 swore deputies, 36 Detention Officers, 14 Telecommunicators, and 5 civilians. This team makes it possible for each resident or visitor to receive the appropriate actions to protect and serve.

Mission

To provide every person regardless of race, creed, color, sex, national origin or other characteristics, whether resident, visitor or traveler the best law enforcement services and protection possible. We will be sensitive to the needs of people, focused on today's problems and flexible enough to meet tomorrow's challenges.

Goals

To provide services that are diverse and unique, but always directed toward the prevention, control and suppression of crime.

To accomplish our Mission using the highest values on our part: Impeccable character exhibited by our honor, integrity, devotion to duty, honesty, knowledge, pride and professionalism thereby forming a basis for a solid alliance with the public.

To recognize that we are constantly exposed, continually examined and ceaselessly judged and to temper our actions with understanding and compassion, enforced with decisiveness and firmness and administered with pride and professionalism at all times.

Objectives

To realize that we are always in the public eye and that we must set an example of conduct to the citizens we serve we must obey the law before we can expect others to do the same.

To exercise discretion at all times based upon common sense, good judgment, training and supervision as well as strict adherence to Departmental mandates and County policies.

To dedicate ourselves to excellence in order to remain one of the most respected, dependable and effective law enforcement agencies anywhere.

To reinforce our belief daily that justice and god not only should, but can prevail as we seek to adhere to the imminent standard: Justice for all.

To earn respect from citizens and the Almighty as we are protected and guided by the words "Blessed are the Peacemakers".