Thursday March 28th, 2024 9:46PM

(Video) Couch cuts the ribbon, officially opens new home for Hall County Sheriff's Office

The Hall County Sheriff’s Office has a new home for the first time in 34 years.

The official dedication took place Tuesday afternoon with speeches from Sheriff Gerald Couch, Hall County Board of Commissioners Chairman Richard Mecum and State Senator Butch Miller.

“Without the leadership of this sheriff, and the vision of this sheriff, and the vision of this county commission,” Miller said in his speech. “We wouldn’t be standing in front of a building of this magnitude and of this impact that’ll have an impact on our community for generations to come.”

Construction of the new Hall County Sheriff’s Office began in February 2014 on a plot of land adjacent to the Hall County Government Center at the intersection of Browns Bridge Road and McEver Road.

It replaces the old sheriff’s office along Main Street of downtown Gainesville. That building was sold to the city of Gainesville in 2012 and the Hall County Sheriff’s occupancy of the administrative side of the building was only valid through 2017, so finding a new home for the Hall County Sheriff’s Office was a top priority for Couch.

This new building will house all of the sheriff’s office administrative functions such as records division and command staff, as well as criminal investigations. It includes crime labs, a special operations patrol and property and evidence rooms.

“We can do better now to serve the citizens of Hall County than before,” Mecum said in his speech.

Funding came from the 2008 voter-approved SPLOST VI. In the measure, $5.6 million was earmarked for construction.

Couch said in his speech that normally a police station of this size (50,000 square feet) would cost at minimum $9.25 million, but Couch and the sheriff’s office were able to make their budget by using furniture from the old sheriff’s office and purchasing surplus furniture and cubicles from the federal government, as well as utilizing inmate work detail where appropriate.

“(The inmates) worked on this building and cut our costs significantly,” Couch told the crowd. “They took pride in their efforts. You will see their work as you tour through this building, and I’m sure you’ll be impressed as I have been.”

After a ribbon-cutting ceremony, guests were offered a guided tour of the new facility.  (AccessWDUN's Derreck Booth got a tour of the facility in August.  Click here for that story and a picture gallery of the complex.)

The building has three floors with the upper-most floor left unfinished to provide for future expansion. When the old sheriff’s office was opened in 1983, the Hall County Sheriff’s Office consisted of 140 employees. That number has more than tripled to the 450 employees they have today.

  • Associated Categories: Homepage, Local/State News
  • Associated Tags: hall county, Butch Miller, hall county sheriff's office, Hall County Board of Commissioners, Gerald Couch
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