Investigator Says He'll 'Re-Energize' the Oconee County Sheriff's Office

Oconee Patch presents a three-part series taking a closer look at the men who have announced their intention to run for Sheriff of Oconee County. . Part 3 focuses on Patrick Holl.  Part 1 was about and was published on Feb. 8. Part 2, , posted on Feb. 9. The articles are being published in alphabetical order by last name.

As an investigator with the Madison County Sheriff's Office, Pat Holl collects critical evidence to punish drug dealers, burglars, child molesters and other offenders for their crimes.

A life-long Oconee County resident, Holl wants to bring his experience and ideas to the , where he can protect and help citizens from the same threats closer to home.

“Sometimes ideas can go stale,” said Holl, 41. “And I think I can re-energize the Sheriff's Office with the ways we serve and protect the community.”

Some of Holls ideas include establishing strong communications between deupties and Oconee County School administrators, and by assigning school resource officers. He also wants to have more deputies trained by the Governor's Office of Highway Safety to inspect and install child safety seats. 

To cut down on property crime, Holl wants to try and have deputies assigned to property theft communicate more regularly with the deputies who pursue illegal drug offenders, since both crimes are often related.

"It gives us a better chance of recovering property and can help us trace who is responsible for those thefts," Holl said.

Holl will go up against long-time Sheriff Scott Berry and another challenger, Trey Downs, a detective corporal for the Snellville Police Department, in the July Republican Primary.

As Sheriff, Holl would be in charge of 88 officers, a jail that currently holds an average of 59 prisoners, and a $4 million budget funded by local taxpayers. While the current Sheriff makes $93,300, new Sheriffs will be paid a base salary of $65,000, plus an $8,600 local supplement.

Holl, who has more than 15 years in law enforcement, isn't an outsider to the Oconee County Sheriff's Office. After two years in the military serving in the communications department of army bases in Georgia and South Korea, Holl launched a career in law enforcement as a dispatcher in Oconee.

“I decided this is how I wanted to spend my life,” Holl said. “It was a fascinating type of work and it was exciting. It was something new. I really don't know how to describe it. It was something that was very interesting. I like helping people, I know it sounds cliché, but I wanted to be there for people when they needed someone.”

Six years later he was promoted as a patrol officer and, eventually, an investigator where he pursued criminals in Oconee County.

Among some of the most notable cases he worked on include a kidnapping where three men bound another man inside a truck, and a case in 2004 where Jean Renea Evans slashed and killed her boyfriend, Willie Lee Cooper, with a knife.

In 2004, Holl left to join the Madison County Sheriff's office when Sheriff Kip Thomas offered him a position.

In Madison, Holl has updated the county's sex offender registry and is the leading investigator of sexual abuse cases, according to Thomas.

“He's one of the best I've seen in handling child molestation and sex crimes cases,” Thomas said. "You've got to have a lot of patience to investigate these cases. You've got to know how to talk to people - especially children - to ask how this has happened. You can't be blunt. The victims in these cases are hurt physically and emotionally and you have to deal with both aspects of that, and Pat can do that.”

One of the more recent cases Holl worked in Madison was the case of Corey Alexander Lawrence, who beat his two-month-old stepson, causing several fractures throughout his body. Lawrence pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, cruelty to children and four counts of aggravated battery in June 2011.

Outside of investigations, Holl recently received management training from Columbus State University Command College, where he took classes on budgeting and personnel management, legal liabilities and incident management.

Protecting homeowners from theft and children from abuse are two of the most important issues Holl said he would focus on as Sheriff.

Outside of work, Holl is a die-hard Georgia Bulldogs fan, and enjoys hunting, fishing and camping with his wife and two stepsons.

Holl is an avid history buff, and knows Oconee County inside and out, said Sharon Eades, a friend who has known him for more than ten years.

“He's a walking encyclopedia, particularly about Oconee County,” Eades said. “That's one of his many characteristics. He has an incredible passion for the county he lives in. You can tell that from talking with him that he loves the county, he loves the law and the people.”