Harold Woods, Liberty County native and long-time Liberty County Board of Education member, died Thursday from health complications, according to a member of his family.
Woods sat on the BoE as the fifth district’s representative for 16 years, serving from 1998 until December 2014.
Prior to his school-board service, Woods spent a full career with the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office as a deputy sheriff, retiring in 1997 after 25 years of service.
According to a resolution adopted on Feb. 18, 1997, by the Georgia House of Representatives, Woods joined the LCSO in 1972 as a radio dispatcher. He was certified as a peace officer for the state of Georgia in 1974, becoming one of the first African-American deputy sheriffs to be hired in Southeast Georgia.
According to the resolution, Woods resolved two armed standoffs during his tenure as a deputy sheriff. After his retirement from the Sheriff’s Office, he continued to serve on the sheriff’s reserve deputy list and occasionally worked as a court bailiff.
Woods further served his community by previously sitting on the Tri-County Protective Agency board of directors, the Selective Service Board and the United Way of Liberty County’s allocations committee.