www.couriernews.com/archivedstory.php?ID=20548 -
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Published on: 2/3/2009
Last Visited: 2/5/2009
Though Pope County Sheriff Aaron DuVall did not begin a career in law enforcement with intentions of becoming a sheriff, that is the position in which he now finds himself.
Once Duvall began working in the Criminal Investigation Division of the Pope County Sheriff's Office (PCSO), he realized that was where he was most comfortable.
"I really loved that area of law enforcement," he said.
"As time went on, though, you always think, ‘I wonder what it would feel like to be sheriff' or ‘Man, I wish I was sheriff' and ‘this is what I would do.'"
After entertaining the thought for long enough, DuVall told former Sheriff Jay Winters if he ever decided not to run for reelection to let him know.
"I told him I would at least like to think about it if I wanted to and check out the possibilities," DuVall said.
"That was probably about four years before he decided to retire."
When Winters did decide to retire, DuVall said he called him into his office and informed him of his decision.
DuVall tried to talk him out of it, but to no avail.
"He told me he'd thought about this and prayed about it," he said.
"He said ‘I wanted to give you an opportunity if you wanted to run.
You're the first and only person I've mentioned this to.'"
DuVall went home that night and talked it over with his wife.
He said they both prayed about it, and about a week or so later, he told Winters he had decided to run â€" and in November, the people of Pope County elected him sheriff.
"I appreciate the people having the confidence in me to elect me," he said.
"We're going to do them a good job.
I want to stay their sheriff and continue to serve the people of Pope County."
Before becoming sheriff or even entering law enforcement, DuVall considered coaching basketball, earned a degree in science and even sold insurance.
Born in Oklahoma, DuVall lived in a town called Bixby until his mother passed away when he was only 12 years old.
This came only nine years after his father's passing when DuVall was a mere 3 years old.
The untimely passing of DuVall's parents brought him to Arkansas to live with his aunt and uncle.
"My mother always said if anything ever happened to her, she wanted me to live with them," DuVall said.
"So at age 12, I moved to Hector."
The sheriff graduated from Hector High School and then Arkansas Tech with a bachelor's of science degree in recreation and parks administration.
He said when he first started college, he thought he wanted to be a basketball coach and teacher, but later became interested in the university's expanding recreational and parks administration program.
Upon switching majors and then graduating, DuVall went to work full-time with the Boy Scouts of America in Harrison.
Unknown to him at the time, this is where the sheriff got his first taste of law enforcement.
"My wife and I became real good friends with a state police officer," he said.
"I began to ride with them some evenings that he worked.
I didn't know if that was really want I wanted to do, but that wet my appetite to get into it later."
After abandoning his job with the Boy Scouts and a few short stints selling insurance and pharmaceuticals, an opportunity developed that would allow DuVall to not only return to Russellville, but also work in law enforcement.
"I was wanting to move back here," he said.
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About a week later, Bolin called DuVall and told him there was an opening for a road deputy.
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Duvall took it.
"I took that position working the road, and I've been here ever since," he said.
After working his way through the ranks on the road, DuVall got a chance to go into jail administration.
He became the assistant administrator of the Pope County Detention Center at a time when former Sheriff Jay Winters was the administrator.
When Bolin decided to retire and Winters decided to run for sheriff, DuVall became the administrator.
...
After a short time in that position, DuVall was ready for something else.
"When Winters became sheriff, he created an opening in the criminal investigation division," DuVall said.
"He knew I wanted to do that."
Winters moved DuVall into CID in about 1991 and he later became the head of the division just prior to running for sheriff.
Now that he is sheriff, DuVall said there will be some changes, which will be a reflection of the differences of personality between him and Winters.
"I'm not saying anything bad about Winters and his administration," DuVall said.
"He did a good job.
He was sheriff for 18 years, so he must have done something good."
The sheriff said he plans to be very active in the county and wants his deputies to be more "citizen friendly."
"I want them to interact with the citizens," he said.
"I want them to be able to see a deputy not only on a call, but just on a regular patrol.
I've told deputies to stop in on businesses and check on them and check on people."
The department has already picked up property checks again for after-hours, which consists of deputies going to different businesses in the county and checking on their property.
This includes a log of the places they check and when that is turned into the sheriff.
One of the biggest problems facing the county, DuVall said, is drugs, especially methamphetamine.
"Meth is being transported in here from other areas in the country as well as outside the country in Mexico," he said.
"We get a lot from Texas and Oklahoma."
DuVall added the economic situation is another issue that's prompted increased crime in the form of burglaries.
"People are stealing property not only to try to satisfy their drug habit, but to also make some money to buy other things," he said.
The department is encouraging citizens not to make it easy for a person to steal something, DuVall added.
"Keep your vehicles locked," he said.
"If you have a house under construction, lock up your tools when you get finished for the day.
Don't leave them sitting around.
Just don't make it easy for them."
Most importantly, DuVall said, he wants the citizens to know the sheriff department is their sheriff department.
"If they've got a problem and they feel like we can solve that problem, I want them to come and talk to us," he said.
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