The Liberty County Sheriff ’s Office became one of just a few to earn state certification. And it’s now the only one to have certification from the state sheriffs’ organization and the state police chiefs.
The sheriff ’s office has certification from the Georgia Association of Police Chiefs, which it attained in May, and has added a certification from the Georgia Sheriff ’s Association, becoming the only county sheriff ’s office in the state to have both at the same time, Sheriff Will Bowman boasted. “It lets us know we are trying to do the right t h i ng ,” Bowman said. “We are going to continue to do things the right way. If you operate on standards, you can’t go wrong. We are always trying to improve.”
The GACP certification allows the sheriff ’s office to obtain grants and Bowman said it helps them be one of the top agencies in the state. The sheriff ’s office is re-evaluated every three years.
“It is not an easy thing to achieve,” he said. “This is something to show the citizens of the county how hard we work to do everything right. It’s not just our award, it’s the county’s award.”
The state sheriffs association wanted to do something similar, Bowman added, and Liberty County is one of the first 14 sheriff ’s offices to earn Office of Sheriff Accreditation Program recognition since its inception in July 2023.
Sheriff Bowman and Chief Deputy Al Hagan said the start of the sheriff ’s office HEAT unit has helped curb the number of driving under the influence arrests.
In 2019, the state was eighth out of 159 Georgia counties for DUI arrests. That number fell to 13th in 2021 and Liberty was 38th in 2023.
“The implementation of HEAT has really helped,” Hagan said.
The county’s projected population is now 70,000, and with that growing population comes other issues, such as traffic and road safety, Hagan acknowledged.
“As we know, public safety is one of the reasons people move to certain areas,” he said.
The sheriff ’s office conducted more than 13,000 traffic stops in 2025, but not all of those ended in a ticket being issued.
“Sometimes, a warning is good,” Hagan said. “It will get people’s attention, just as well as a citation.”
The sheriff ’s office also is conducting more business checks and that has cut down on burglary rates, Hagan said.
Staffing remains a critical issue — the sheriff ’s office has 171 allotted positions between its departments, such as patrol, jail, investigations, etc. and 143 deputies on hand, with five more in the academy as of December. The sheriff ’s office has three bureaus, jail operations, professional standards and police operations, with a major in charge of each. As of late last year, the sheriff ’s office had 10 unfilled spots among the 63 it had allotted for the jail.
The sheriff ’s office also is looking to add to its school resource officer roster. The program has been funded through the school system and through the RedSpeed camera proceeds.
“The SRO program has been really successful,” Hagan said.
He cautioned that not just any officer can serve as a SRO. Those chosen have to fit into a school atmosphere with children.
Hagan also asked residents, and especially parents and school children, if they are aware of a threat posted on social media to let the authorities know as soon as possible.
“We’re not going to wait until the buses are rolling,” he said. “If you see something on social media reach out to us. We’re on it that night.”
Bowman also said his deputies can make stops within city limits, such as Hinesville’s. The Hinesville Police Department, which also has GACP certification, can patrol just the 20 square miles of the city but can called upon for mutual aid. The sheriff said his deputies don’t look to make stops within cities where there is a police department, “but if they see something, they have to stop,” he said.