This story has been corrected to reflect the correct spelling of the jail’s new administrator, Cory Mataya.
Some moves are being made in the Pearl River County Sheriff’s Department due to two high ranking employees moving on to new chapters in their lives.
With the retirement of Deputy Chief Shane Tucker, Sheriff David Allison has decided to split responsibilities associated with that position between two current staff. Allison also said he had to find a replacement for his current jail administrator, Julie Flowers, because she is leaving for another job with the Forrest County jail as that facility’s warden and jail administrator.
Tucker, who was Allison’s first hire after being elected in 2016, and Flowers, who was already on staff at that point, have been members of his department through the entirety of his time in office, and he said he wishes both of them well as they move on to new things. Allison said that he decided to split Tucker’s responsibilities between two current employees to give them more exposure to how a jail and sheriff’s department operates. This trend appears to be used by a lot of departments as they get away from having a chief deputy on staff, he said.
Former Chief Investigator Marc Ogden has been promoted to the rank of major, and will now manage all investigation division operations, including crime, narcotics and others.
Joe Quave is being promoted from captain to major and will be over the divisions of patrol, dispatch, the jail and the day to day operations of the department, Allison said.
Shane Edgar is being promoted from sergeant to captain and will serve as the department’s new patrol commander.
Rob Williams will add the responsibilities of inventory and vehicle maintenance to his current duties and will be commander of the department’s SWAT team.
To replace Julie Flowers, Capt. Cory Mataya will be the department’s new jail administrator.
“I’m excited about the changes. I think it will bring fresh ideas to the department,” Allison said. “I’d like to wish the community a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.”