When you walk in the Walker County Sheriff’s Office these days – You can immediately tell something is different. It’s not just the new name over the front door as you walk in either. The people that work there have a new bounce in their step, a new urgency to serve those that walk through the door.
New Sheriff Jim Underwood is to thank for this rapid turnaround. Since his swearing-in in late November, he’s been honing in on what are assets to the department and what could be tweaked. His 40+ year career in the law enforcement has given Underwood the ability to be idealistic yet pragmatic about what the county’s largest crime-fighting agency needs going forward.
Underwood grew up in the West Jasper area and attended both Walker High School and Walker College. He attempted to get on with the Jasper Police Department at 21, but when that didn’t work out – He headed to Birmingham for 10 years before finding his true calling, The US Marshalls.
Underwood taking the Sheriff's oath in November of '14
He rose fast through the ranks and eventually ended up overseeing the Marshalls in Kentucky, being responsible for 67 counties. “The US Marshalls essentially act as a Sheriff for the Federal Government… I feel that there are a lot of similarities between that and my new job.” Spending over 30 years with the Marshalls, he oversaw many budgetary successes and resource upgrades. “When I first joined the Marshalls, we had to drive our personal cars, we didn’t have a proper training school. Now, Marshalls are among the best-trained and most well-equipped agents in the United States.”
After retirement, Underwood and his wife made it back home to Walker County to take care of his aging parents. He took a position with the District Attorney’s Office to keep himself busy and found his next calling in local government.
He joined an already crowded field for Sheriff last year, but handily won thanks to a strong record and solid values. “I’m a deacon in my church and I begged God to give me any reason not to run for Sheriff. He didn’t speak up, so I kept going.”
When asked what won him the election – He said, “I told the public that I’ve never been associated with their Sheriff’s Department and that I am not part of the problem. I assured them that if I was in office we would do what’s right. Anyone down there that doesn’t want to help the public can go.”
To keep up with The Walker County Sheriff’s Office day-to-day activities – watch their Twitter page: Twitter.com/walkercosheriff
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