(KNZA)--Jackson County Sheriff Tim Morse graduated from the National Sheriff’s Institute last week.  

Sheriff Morse was one of 26 sheriffs from 18 different states who were selected to attend the week long leadership program designed specifically for the office of sheriff. The program was held at the National Institute of Corrections in Longmont, Colorado.  The training, lodging, meals and travel were paid for by the National Institute of Corrections and the National Sheriff’s Association.  

Sheriff Morse said “The office of sheriff is a unique position and is only fully understood by those who have personally served in the office. I found there to be so many differences between sheriffs across our nation, but at the same time, we have so many similarities.”  ’We deal with many of the same challenges of other sheriff’s offices from Yuma County, Arizona to Franklin County, Maine.” 

Morse said, “A sheriff’s office is a police department and a whole lot more. Sheriffs in Kansas are the chief law enforcement officer for the county and are responsible not only for patrol and investigations, but for jails, civil process, conceal carry, serving the courts, court security, dealing with registered offenders, foreclosures, tax sales and in most counties, the communications center.”

The NSI program provided an arduous 65 hour training program primarily focused on the leadership of the sheriff in the office and in the community.  

Morse said, “I found the NSI to be one of the best trainings I have experienced in my career and recommend it to any first term sheriff.  It allows each sheriff the ability to effectively evaluate their own leadership skills and at the same time highlight areas needed for improvement. In addition, the program provided sheriffs solutions for those areas where improvement is needed.  

Sheriff Morse attended the NSI training program from September 14-20th. 

The following quotes are from the NSA website, “The National Sheriffs' Association is dedicated to raising the level of professionalism among sheriffs, their deputies, and others in the field of criminal justice, public safety and law enforcement so that they may perform their jobs in the best possible manner and better serve the people of their cities, counties or jurisdictions.”

“The National Sheriff’s Institute’s goal is to help first term sheriffs enhance their ability to be an effective leader.” 

The program also focused on the following:

Providing the sheriff with a greater understanding of his/her role as a community leader.

Providing the sheriff opportunities to assess and evaluate leadership styles and skills in the areas of bargaining, interpersonal communications, and personnel management.

Understanding how organization ethics assist in managing staff; to familiarize the sheriff with key legal issues that impact on the office of the executive leader.

Providing the sheriff with an understanding of the media and how to effectively communicate and work with the media.

And overall, providing the sheriff with the administrative oversight necessary to effectively manage all areas of responsibility.