Contributed
The Opening Ceremony for the Bladen County Sheriff’s Office Law Enforcement Annex in Kelly was held Monday afternoon, October 7 in Kelly. The annex is located in the old post office now owned by Centerville Baptist Church. The building had recently been owned by the Bob Mitchell family and given to Centerville Baptist Church.
Approximatley 50 people from area law enforcement agencies and citizens of the Kelly area attended the event. Sheriff Jim McVicker, County Manager Greg Martin, County Commissioners Chairman Charles Ray Peterson, Billy Barker, Assistant to Congressman David Rouzer, Centerville Baptist Church Pastor Allen Murray and Chairman of Deacons Jeff Huff were some of the officials in attendance.
The Bladen County Sheriff’s Office, The North Carolina Highway Patrol, and The North Carolina Wildlife Enforcement Division will utilize the substation while working in the Kelly area.
“If a citizen has a deer wreck and needs to meet with a State Trooper, instead of driving to Elizabethtown, the Trooper can meet the citizen at the annex. If one of our deputies needs to meet with a citizen of Kelly, it can be done at the annex instead of the citizen driving to Elizabethtown,” said Sheriff Jim McVicker.
The vision of having a law enforcement annex in Kelly was an idea of the citizens in Kelly. “We reached out to Jeff Huff of Centerville Baptist Church and found out that they might be willing to allow us to use the building for a law enforcement annex. After hearing back from Jeff that the church was in favor of allowing us to use the building, we began putting together our resources to renovate the building along with Centerville Baptist Church”, said Sheriff McVicker.
Inmates and staff from the Bladen County Jail and Sheriff’s Office were used to paint, replace flooring, window casings and clean up around the building.
“We are very fortunate for the law enforcement relationship that we have here in Bladen County and our Troopers look forward to utilizing this facility when in the Kelly area”, said Captain Chris Morton, Troop B Commander of the State Highway Patrol out of Fayetteville.
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