By Shannon McFarlin News Director
Paris, Tenn.–The late Henry County Sheriff’s Deputy Sgt. Robert Camper was honored at Monday night’s meeting of the Henry County Commission, as were the county’s 10 bailiffs.
Sgt. Camper passed away unexpectedly last month and County Mayor John Penn Ridgeway said, “He was a friend to many in this community. You knew you could count on him.”
Before reading a proclamation in his honor, Commissioners Don Jones and Randy Gean spoke of Camper, noting his easy-going nature.
In the proclamation, Ridgeway noted that Camper had faithfully served the sheriff’s office since 2002, was a long-time member of the Rescue Squad and a founder of the Cumberland K9 Search team. “He was known and respected by many,” Ridgeway said. “It was a blow” when Camper passed away, “but we’re grateful for the time we got to spend with him.”
Sheriff Josh Frey brought several of Camper’s buddies up to the front of the meeting to help honor him: Sgt. Lowell Boyd, Tim Hester (formerly of Air Evac), Bailiff Richard Riegel, and Constable Chris Coley.
Ridgeway and the commission also honored the county’s 10 bailiffs, who he said, “perform a thankless job every day.” He noted the bailiffs save the county money every day “but more than that they face danger every day, especially in the last three years during the COVID pandemic.”
Sgt. Ricky Wade oversees the bailiffs, who are: Richard Riegel, Lon Howarter, Jerry Goldman, Randy Mabe, Ed Fitzgerald, Russ Weng, Mark Gander, Jim Higgins, Kurt Zeiler and Beverly Frisch.
A large contingent of Henry County deputies were on hand at the meeting for the honors for both Sgt. Camper and bailiffs. Standing ovations were given for both honors.
In other business:
–The commission approved a resolution authorizing the purchase of industrial property. As explained by Rob Goad, director of the Paris-Henry County Industrial Committee, the property is 400 acres fronting the Hwy. 218 bypass, describing it as a good value.
An option on the property was secured in 2019, he said, and the cost of the property is $1M, with the PHCIC funding $250,000 of the purchase price, and the city of Paris and county contributing $375,000 each.
–The commission amended a previous resolution regarding the interlocal agreement between the city of Paris and the county for operation of the landfill.
–In response to a question from Commissioner Marty Visser, Kreg Kyle said the hospital board is moving forward with the process of hiring a new Henry County Medical Center CEO. “We’ve had a couple of interviews of candidates and we’re still in the process,” Kyle said. Commissioner Kyle is a member of the hospital board.
Top photo: County Mayor John Penn Ridgeway and Sheriff Josh Frey with the proclamation for Sgt. Camper. Bottom photo: Sgt. Ricky Wade, Frey and Ridgeway honor bailiffs. (Shannon McFarlin photos).
