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ELKINS -- The Randolph County Commission approved a provincial resource officer grant application for the Randolph County Sheriff's Office during its regular meeting Thursday at the James Cain Courthouse Annex.
All three commissioners voted unanimously to approve the application, which has a cutoff deadline of today and if granted will enable the Sheriff's Office to place two of its officers in area schools.
"This is something that we have been working on for a little while and we have the grant package prepared," Randolph County Sheriff Rob Elbon told the commission Thursday. "We've asked for two officers and I'd like to assign one to Elkins Middle School and the other to Tygarts Valley High/Middle School.
"The way the grant is being written is the officers would be able to go to every school in Randolph County, even our grade school level, for educational purposes and things like that."
Elbon said he has talked to the Randolph County Board of Education and that board members are in complete favor of the program.
"It looks like by talking with the board, they are very much in favor of this program and they've reached out monetarily and have basically said they would provide salaries for two officers to do that," Elbon said. "They were actually kind of interested in three (officers), but I don't know that I have the staff for that because to qualify it takes someone that has certain law enforcement certifications. You can't take a new guy and put him through the academy and send him into a school."
Elbon, who will drive to Charleston and hand-deliver the grant application today, said he put out some feelers in his department and found that he does have two potential candidates who are interested in the positions.
"I think this will be good for our kids, and I think it will be good for the teachers and staff at the schools," Elbon said. "It will help the safety levels in the schools and provide an educational opportunity to be able to counsel and work with the kids. It's a good program and has been going on for years and years throughout the state."
Elbon said Randolph County has not participated in the program for many years. Randolph County Magistrate Mike Dyer once worked with the program and the schools when he was a deputy with the Sheriff's Office, Elbon said.
"Randolph County has not had the program since Magistrate Dyer was in the schools years and years ago," Elbon noted. "He was one of the only ones to ever do that in this county and people still remember that. He had a lot of impact with the kids and we'd like to kick this program off again."
If the grant is approved and the program returns to the county, Elbon said the positions left behind by the officers accepting those positions will be filled with new officers. And when there is no school during the holidays and summer months, the officers will resume their regular duties.
"We will bring some new guys in so that it doesn't affect our 24-hour coverage of protecting the citizens of the county," Elbon said. "And as part of the negotiation, when there is no school, the officers will be doing what needs to be done. Like during the week of Thanksgiving when school is shut down, those guys will be out running patrols and protecting the county. Or if there is a major incident while they're on their way to work at one of the schools, those guys would handle whatever is going on and go to the schools later on."
If approved, the Randolph County Commission would provide the motor vehicles -- along with the training and certification -- for the officers.
"This is truly a partnership between the county and the Board of Education, because we are chipping in some and they're chipping in some," said Randolph County Commission President Mark Scott.