Don Henery |
Sheriff |
It is the duty of the Sheriff to serve, execute and return writs or other legal process issued by a lawful authority. The Sheriff shall prepare and file an annual inventory statement of county personal property in his or her custody. The Sheriff has charge and custody of the jail and its prisoners, except in counties where a County Board of Corrections exists and has duties over the jail. It is the duty of the Sheriff to keep the peace, apprehend criminals and perform other duties as peace officer. The Sheriff may appoint deputies but such deputies may not be the County Treasurer, Clerk, Register of Deeds or Surveyor.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: To receive up-to-date information and stay instantly informed of trusted, neighborhood-level public safety and community information about Knox County, use website links below.
WEATHER ALERT WEBSITES
- National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration
- Weather Underground
- The Weather Channel
- Red Cross
- Nebraska Dept. of Roads Traveler Information
- KTIV Siouxland's News Channel
VINE
The Nebraska State Victim Notification Service (VINE) is a service through which victims of crime can use the telephone or Internet to search for information regarding their offender's custody status and register to receive telephone and e-mail notification when the offender's custody status changes. This service is brought to you by your local Sheriff, Don Henery. See the link below or call the VINE toll-free number for Nebraska VINE which is 1-877-634-8463.
Nebraska Crime Commission - Victim Information & Notification Everyday (VINE)
The Knox County Sheriffs Office consists of the Sheriff: Chief Deputy Sheriff: three full time Deputy Sheriffs, 2 part time Deputies, 2 Bailiffs, a 911 Coordinator, an Administrative Assistant, and eight full-time Jailors/Dispatchers.
The Sheriff is responsible for the administration of the Sheriff's Department and the Knox County Jail. He is responsible for enforcement of all laws, and investigation of crimes within the county. Some laws include game and fish, traffic, crimes against persons, crimes against property, and the keeping of the peace. The current Sheriff, and his deputies are also Federal BIA Officers.
Deputy County Coroner As the Deputy County Coroner, the Sheriff and his deputies investigate all unattended deaths in the County. This investigation assists the County Attorney in determining the cause of death.
Other responsibilities include the civil process within the county. Civil process includes services of writs of various types, such as: Summons; Garnishments; Subpoenas; and Attachment and Execution of Judgment against property, levy and sale of property; and the collection of personal property taxes.
The Knox County Jail is under the direct supervision of the Sheriff. The Sheriff's Department must maintain care and custody of the prisoners. In addition to prisoners arrested and sentenced on state charges; we also house prisoners from the Santee Sioux Nation for Bureau of Indian Affairs and the US Marshall prisoners.
The Jailors are also Dispatchers, operating the Law Enforcement radio for City Police and Sheriff's Officers, along with all Fire & Rescue, including for the Santee Sioux Indian Reservation, while keeping 24-hour prisoner surveillance. All members of the Sheriffs Office are certified and trained by the Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Center at Grand Island. All members are required to complete a minimum of 20 hours of continuing-ed in-service training each year.
The Sheriff's Office is open 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.
Generally, there is a first call Officer on duty and a second call Officer on stand-by to assist first call Officer, and is subject to call when needed by the Jailor. The Sheriff is subject to call 24 hours per day.
The 911 Coordinator and Head Jailer work day shifts, conducting vehicle title inspections and assisting with the clerical work in the Office, along with the Jailor duties. The Administrative Assistant handles civil process and Sheriff Office claims.
Six nighttime Jailors work regular shifts: 3:30 P.M. to 12:30 A.M., and 12:30 A.M. to 9:30 A.M., with overlapping shifts of 6:30 P.M. to 3:30 AM. All Jailors fill in for each other for sick leave and vacation days. The eight Jailor shifts are scheduled so that there is at least one Jailor on duty at all times, and two people most of the time. All Jailors handle emergency communications for rescue and fire departments, weather watches, etc. for the cities and villages of the county.
The Chief Jailor is responsible for all clerical duties and is in charge of scheduling shifts of the office. The Chief Jailor assigns certain clerical work for the Jailors when the office becomes too busy to handle the clerical work during office hours.
The entity that holds the Jail Feeding Contract is responsible for the food services and must maintain a balanced diet for all inmates, as set out by the Jail Standards of Nebraska. A detailed accounting is maintained on each prisoner's diet, some of which are physician prescribed. Jail Standards audit the food service records annually. The Knox County Jail was built in 1934 and passes inspection by Jail Standards of Nebraska every year as well as annual BIA inspections.
Since August of 1996, Knox County has implemented 911. All emergency situations in Knox County are now called in on 911 for all the towns and rural areas, including the Santee Sioux Reservation. The 911 Dispatcher is trained to handle every emergency that is called in. They can help the caller with the emergency, and also will dispatch, at the same time, Law Enforcement, Fire or Rescue, or whatever is needed for that specific emergency call. The 911 system is paid for by a telephone surcharge of $1.00 per telephone, per month, and a percentage of wireless surcharge funds.
The 911 Coordinator oversees the entire 911 system. Part of the job is to keep Knox County current with where the future of 911 is heading. We have purchased all new equipment for 911, as technology has moved forward at a very rapid pace. Next Generation 911 (NG911) will be here in the near future, and Knox County will be ready.
