President's Message

Sheriff Herman Young, Fairfield County
2011 SC Sheriffs' Association President

It is both gratifying and humbling to have been elected president of the South Carolina Sheriffs' Association.  I deeply appreciate the trust and confidence my fellow sheriffs have shown by affording me this wonderful opportunity to serve in this important position.  My promise to them, and you to you, our loyal members is to ensure the continuation of the work we do at the Sheriffs' Association.

Obviously, the responsibilities of the forty-six elected sheriffs is to enforce the laws of the state and to "preserve and protect" their citizens.  But what exactly does the Association do?  If you're a long time member, you've seen through our magazine, many of our efforts.  Training, working as members of a myriad of committees, councils, and task forces covering a range of topics from at risk youth to vulnerable adult protective services to professionalizing crime victim's services.  But the Association also acts as an important resource to the forty-six sheriff's offices.  In fact, it is our primary source for assistance on virtually any subject or problem we face.  Without the Association's staff and support they provide us, the sheriffs, we would too often be without the advice and research we need to properly and effectively do our jobs.  And that comes back to you and your fellow citizens in the form of better law enforcement.  It's a circle really, and you are the beginning and the end of it.  And without you, we would not exist.  At least not to the level we do today, and we have you, our honorary members to thank for it.  So let me say what my predecessors have said so many times before me.  Thank you!  We cannot say it enough.  Thank you for making us possible, and all the work we do possible.

Sheriff Herman Young

President