A longtime Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office employee has retired after 23 years of dedicated service to the citizens of Rockdale County.

On February 28, 2014, Captain Myra Pearrell served her last day with the Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office.  Captain Pearrell began her career at the RCSO in 1990 as a civilian employee under Sheriff Guy Norman.  In 1993, she was sworn as a detention deputy and later became a certified law enforcement officer assigned to the Uniform Patrol Division in 1996.  Since that time, she has served in the Administration and Uniform Patrol Divisions as a corporal, sergeant and lieutenant, and was promoted to captain in the Support Services Division (now Support Services Bureau) in 2011.

Listing out all of the accomplishments and contributions that Captain Pearrell has made to the RCSO during her service would be too lengthy, which serves testament to the true value of her dedication over the years. Some of Captain Pearrell’s major accomplishments during her career at the Sheriff’s Office include:

·         After becoming the grant officer in 2001, she brought in more than 3 million dollars worth of grants to the RCSO

·         Helped to coordinate and document emergency responses during the BioLab chemical fire in 2004 and the flood in 2009 (a federally-declared disaster)

·         Aided in the design of the Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office Mobile Command Vehicle, and later served as a liaison officer during deployment (South Georgia wildfire and Atlanta tornado) and numerous training exercises held annually

·         Served as the project manager and Sheriff’s Office representative on several technical projects, including the mobile data project (computers in patrol vehicles), the GBI-linked jail fingerprint scanner, conversions to several different cellular carriers, and county-wide integrated software implementations

·         Served as the Sheriff’s Office representative (representing Sheriff Jeff Wigington and the Sheriff Eric Levett) on the Area 7 All Hazards Council, a group convened to coordinate response plans and training across the metro Atlanta area

Captain Pearrell is a graduate of the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois, where she completed a three-year program as a theology major, as well as a graduate of the Columbus State University Professional Management Program.  In addition, Captain Pearrell is also a graduate of the Chamber of Commerce Leadership Rockdale (Class of 2009) and was a delegate in the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange to Israel in 2009.  She was also awarded as the VFW Deputy of the Year in 2003 and Supervisor of the Year for the Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office in 2008.

A retirement celebration was held at the RCSO on March 7, 2014 in honor of Captain Pearrell’s career and was attended by other Rockdale County and state employees, as well as citizens from the community.

“I want to thank Myra for her commitment to the RCSO and citizens of Rockdale County throughout her career,” said Sheriff Eric Levett.  “Captain Pearrell was a true asset to Rockdale County and it was evident by the number of people that stopped in to say “thanks” during her retirement reception.  I want to wish her well as she begins a new journey in retirement, and leave her with knowing that the she will always be part of the RCSO family.”