As Cocke County continues economic recovery, sheriff's office seeks new hires
NEWPORT, Tenn. (WATE) — Hurricane Helene left many businesses in Cocke County closed for extended periods of time and led to a spike in the area's unemployment rate. One place looking to help lessen that number, is the Cocke County Sheriff's Office as the department is encouraging people to apply.
We are six months removed from some of the worst flooding seen in East Tennessee that left towns in ruin and businesses closed. As businesses continue to reopen and more money begins to flow back the county, the Cocke County Sheriff's Office is looking for new employees to help fill vacant spots in their corrections facilities.
Cocke County still striving for a return to normal six months after Helene flooding
'Corrections is a tough job. You're dealing with anywhere between 100-200 inmates throughout the day and a lot of that stuff can become stressful and you have to deal with that a lot,' Cocke County Sheriff C.J. Ball said. 'It's a tough job. I worked there for four years and I know exactly what it's like to work in corrections. Obviously, as years have gone by, I'm sure it's gotten worse. Put in an application, we'll review it. If we've got opening, we'll start calling people in the application process and then we'll go from there.'
Cocke County Mayor Rob Mathis said the county's unemployment rate is currently around 7%.
'We lost about a years worth of progress on that. If you go back two years we are essentially where we were two years ago,' Mathis said. 'We're hoping again that we have that robust recovery so that we can make up for those losses and that unemployment rate. We can get to where we were or even better quicker than it took us to get their the first time.'
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Due to the damage done to the Cocke County Jail on Main Street, the sheriff's office has had to resort to reopening the third floor jail in the county court house as well as transporting some inmates to a facility in Jefferson County. The department currently operating without a full staff.
'Our jail was. Last week we were down six. We've had to have four or five positions since the flood just to try, obviously for safety features number one, number two you've got to have the man power to control however many inmates you have in your facilities,' Ball said. 'When you're down six or seven, that's a lot of man power. That's about a whole shift.'
Mathis said getting jobs filled and the unemployment numbers down is at the front of everyone's mind.
'It's the top priority. Getting people back in their homes and back in their workplace is a top priority for us,' he said. 'Nothing happens without them.'
▶ See more top stories on WATE.com
Ball told 6 New, anyone can come and apply. All you have to do is go to the Sherriff's Office and fill out an application.
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