Seized Drug Money Benefits Twiggs County Sheriff’s Office

Seized drug money is helping to build a training facility that will sit on 14-acres of land, donated to the Twiggs County Sheriff’s Office.

Those same dollars bought more than half the fleet of patrol vehicles.

Twiggs County Sheriff Darren Mitchum says, “The county hasn’t had to buy the sheriff’s office a patrol car since 2007.”

The new training facility will cost roughly $18,000. Chief Deputy Billy Boney says it’s a loss for the drug dealer, but it’s savings for Twiggs County taxpayers.

“Everybody in Twiggs County will benefit from the things that the sheriff is doing with the drug seized money that we have,” says Boney.

“It’ll be a multi-purpose range where our fire and rescue personnel can also train here, law enforcement agencies we can train here and do all sorts of training, daytime and nighttime,” says Mitchum.

Drug money also pays for firearms, radios, and ammunition.

Boney says, “Well the money that the drug dealers relinquish by doing their dirty deeds, that money is in turn used to make the public safer.”

With more requirements for certifications and various training, Mitchum says it really helps to have your own training facility.

Twiggs County Administrator Terry Bates adds, “The better trained they are, the better equipped they are, the better job they can do.”