Oconee Pulls Out of Regional Drug Task Force

The is pulling their officer assigned to the regional drug force back into Oconee County, Sheriff Scott Berry confirmed Thursday.

Following a , the Sheriff's Office was looking for ways to cut spending while shielding residents from major reductions in service. Though the move doesn't reduce the budget, it does bring an officer back to focus on Oconee County exclusively.

"We have to refocus resources on Oconee County," Berry said. "It's a function of money and resources."

Oconee County had been part of the task force since 2006, Chief Deputy Lee Weems said. University of Georgia Police, Athens-Clarke County and Oglethorpe County are the remaining members of the task force, which Weems said was referred to as the Regional Drug Task Force or the Western Judicial Circuit Task Force.

Weems said Cpl. Vick Green will continue to work on drug-related cases, but will be stationed in-house rather than in Athens.

"While we do get some benefit from the regional drug task force, it's not 100 percent focused on Oconee County," Weems said. "We made the decision in light of services being cut in Oconee County to citizens that we couldn't justify funding a position that did not directly benefit the citizens of Oconee County 100 percent of the time."

Weems said the Sheriff's Office will still assist with the agencies when necessary and that the office is not letting up on drug use. Three have been issued in the last few weeks alone, he said.

"I regret having to do this," Berry said. "Having a full-time person on the task force is just not possible."

On the Sheriff's Office Facebook page, Berry shared a letter he sent last week to Chief Joseph Lumpkin of the Athens-Clarke County Police Department. He noted  the change will go into effect on July 15. 

Weems wrote about other changes likely to take place under a tighter budget environment in his monthly Oconee Patch .