Six employees with the Richland County Sheriff’s Office—Lt. Misty Young, Lt. Sam Benavides, Sgt. Jamaal O’Dell, Sgt. Christopher Fletcher, Sgt. Donald Bigler, and Sgt. Scott Kotterman—recently moved up in ranks and were recognized during a ceremony held Tuesday afternoon.
Family members and fellow employees filed into the Sheriff’s Office in celebration and support of the recently promoted employees.
Young, who previously served as sergeant, was promoted to lieutenant. When she was first employed at the county jail in September of 2004, she served as a corrections officer. In October of 2011, she was promoted to sergeant, and shortly after her promotion, she took over a field training officer program and turned it into a highly successful program.
“Misty is extremely hardworking and she strives to do the right thing even when no one is watching,” said Capt. Chris Blunk.
Benavides was also promoted to lieutenant. He began working as a corrections officer in November of 1992. In 2000, he was promoted to sergeant. He has supervisor experience in all three shifts, spending the majority of his years on third shift.
“He is a very intelligent supervisor, full of good ideas, and cares a lot about his staff,” said Blunk.
O’Dell began working as a corrections officer in December of 1999. He has worked as a field training officer for many years, as well. He will now serve as sergeant.
“Jamaal works hard and has tons of experience that will help him become a great supervisor. I believe he will be a valuable asset to this department and this community,” Blunk said.
O’Dell voiced his appreciation for the department and said, “I look forward to working hard and doing my best, and hopefully it will lead to a lot of good things.”
Like the others, Fletcher was first employed at the county jail as a corrections officer in October of 2008. He also worked as a field training officer.
“Chris does great work in the jail and has lots of experience, which will help him become a great supervisor,” Blunk commented.
Bigler and Kotterman were both promoted prior to the ceremony. Bigler, previously a corrections officer, was promoted to sergeant on March 27 and Kotterman, previously a road deputy, was promoted to sergeant on June 19.
Both have made good impressions as they have served in their new positions. “I’ve got a lot of good reports that you’re doing a great job since you’ve been the sergeant and that you’ve stepped up to the plate,” said Sheriff Steve Sheldon to Bigler.
Sheldon commended the entire staff at the Sheriff’s Office. “We really feel the jail has gotten better, and better, and better. A lot of it is because of all the hard work our corrections officers do and the supervisory staff that we have in place,” he said.
He noted that the office is trying to employ more people in the future, having already hired approximately 12 deputies and 20 corrections officers in the last year.
“We’re really, really excited about our corrections staff and are expecting great things out of those of you who were just promoted,” Sheldon stated.
