Rising up within the ranks of the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office were Jim Chapman and Jeffrey Hein, who were honored for their accomplishments Thursday afternoon in Sheriff Steve Sikes’ office at the Liberty County Justice Center.

Deputy Jim Chapman was promoted to detective. Hein, already a detective with the LCSO, was promoted to lieutenant.

“Since day one, I’ve been looking for a good place to put this man,” Sikes said of Chapman. “I’ve seen some good things from him — quality things — and now he is a detective and has room to prove himself. He is going to excel in this department.”

Chapman previously worked in narcotics at an agency in Albany and later became a detective. He’s been a Liberty County deputy for four years and said he was looking forward to serving the community in his new role.

With barely a chance to enjoy his promotion, Chapman already was busy with his first case.

“Well, it’s my second day — we had a homicide, so I have a lot on my plate to start with,” he said.

Hein has been with the LCSO since August 2000. Before that, he worked for the Hinesville Police Department. When he transferred to the LCSO, he immediately went to work with narcotics, then moved to the investigation division in February 2006 to work with general crime.

With his promotion, Hein will be the assistant commander of the Multi Agency Crack Enforcement Task Force, once again devoting his attention to narcotic crimes.

“We have a lot of operations that are going on. I plan to keep our guys going in the direction that we need to go and get things ready for court and moving forward,” Hein said. “There are lots of irons in the fire right now, but based on narcotics and what we do, I’m not at liberty to comment on those cases, but we are busy, so busy.”

“I’ve probably dumped more on this man right here than anybody else in the department, other than Keith Moran. He has a big job to do,” Sikes said. “I got the right man for the job. I’m looking forward to good results.”

“There is no doubt these guys will generate and solve cases,” Chief Deputy Keith Moran added.