Even after nine years with the Washington County Sheriff's Office, every day still brings fresh surprises for Lt. Jeffrey Young, a shift supervisor at the Washington County Jail. Not only did his job afford him the opportunity to start down a career path he enjoys, it also is the reason he met his wife Jamey, who is a dispatcher for the Washington County Sheriff's Office.
"I tell people we met in jail," joked Young.
When Young is not busy supervising the inmates and staff at the jail, he likes to spend his time playing with 3-year-old daughter Rylee and volunteering for Project Lifesaver, a program that helps keep tabs on seniors and youth who are given to wandering.
Article Photos
JASMINE ROGERS The Marietta Times
Washington County Jail shift supervisor Lt. Jeffrey Young, right, goes over the day’s schedule with jail corrections officer Brysen Lee
Question: What drew you to a career in law enforcement?
Answer: I needed a career at the time. I was working moving furniture for Merchants 5 Star, but I wanted a career more than a job. I had a friend that was working here at the time and he told me about working for the Sheriff's Office.
Q: What does your role as jail shift supervisor entail?
Fact Box
At a glance
- Name: Lt. Jeffrey Young
- Occupation: Corrections officer, Washington County Jail shift supervisor
- Age: 36
- Residence: Marietta
- Education: Marietta Hight School, United States Navy
- Family: wife, Jamey; 3-year-old daughter, Rylee
- Hobbies: hunting, watching football, spending time with family
A: Responsibility for everybody in the building. I supervise the workers on my shift and responsibility for the med staff, the cooking staff and every one of the inmates. We have six people who work the floor as corrections officers, one control room officer, one nurse, and two cooks. Actually there are three cooks, but usually two in a day. We have 124 beds, but we've got about 98 inmates right now.
Q: What is the hardest aspect of your job?
A: I don't know. I've been doing it for so long now. It just depends on the day. Like today, pretty much everybody is behaving themselves, inside of here and outside of here. When it comes to an individual thing, I'd say dealing with inmates with mental illness, that is very difficult. They've cut so many beds for mental health patients in the state. They will get a disorderly conduct charge on them and they'll end up in jail, and that's not really the best place for them.
Q: What are some misconceptions people have about the jail or working here?
A: I remember when I first started working here. I told family members and friends I was working in the jail, they said, "Well it's just the county jail. It's not like you have to deal with murderers and rapists." Where do you think those people go when they originally get arrested? They don't go straight to prison. You know, we deal with a drunk driver all the way up to a murderer. I think that's something people think: small town it is just a county jail.
Q: What's your favorite part of your job?
A: It is different every know. I mean even though we are inside the building and the schedule is the same pretty much every day, you're always dealing with a different situation. You never really know what you're gonna get when you come to work.
Q: What sort of public information services does the jail offer?
A: We have the website, www.washingtoncountysheriff.org. Other public information, if they have a question about somebody being incarcerated they can call up and ask. It's all on the website too. It shows who is in here and what they are in here for.
Q: What's been your most memorable day on the job?
A: There's been so many. Every now and then, there's people who come in here who made mistakes and you actually do get through to them to where you never end up seeing them again. I'm not saying I specifically helped them, but maybe just the shock of heading down the wrong path and then showing up in jail one day, reality kind of sets in for them.
Q: What do you like to do when you are not at work?
A: Spend time with my child. I'm also involved with the Project Lifesaver program here. That's a program that we put tracking bracelets on senior citizens with Alzheimer's and children with autism and down syndrome. They are people that are prone to wandering. We do a lot of that on volunteer time, change bracelets and the batteries on them and stuff like that. The Area Agency on Aging out in Buckeye Hills out there in Reno, Kathy Ash, she coordinates us and six other surrounding counties. We handle all the bracelet changes and stuff like that, but it is all run off of donations. I enjoy doing that. The kids are fun.
