Winding down: Norton sheriff ends 39-year city law enforcement career - Kingsport Times News
NORTON — In nine days, Carlos Noaks plans to start catching up with his family.
Noaks retires Dec. 30 after 39 years in Norton law enforcement — 15 years with the Norton Police department and 24 years as the city’s sheriff — and he says people have been the main reason for staying in the field.
“It’s been good, and I never got into this because of money,” Noaks said Monday as he caught up on paperwork. “I hoped to be able to help people here, and I’ve met a lot of good people over the years.”
Noaks chose not to run for a seventh term this year, citing family for his decision.
“I just want to change a little, but what I’m looking for most is spending more time with my family,” Noaks said. “I’ve got cousins I haven’t seen for years, and I want to be able to spend more time with my kids, grandkids, nieces and everybody. When you look back at all you missed, I missed a lot of first things.”
Norton Police Sgt. Jason McConnell, who won the sheriff’s election in November, will move into Noaks’ position Jan. 1, and Noaks said he looks forward to his successor.
“I believe he’ll make a good sheriff,” said Noaks. “He’s been with the police department for about 10 years, and we’ve spent a lot of time together on prisoner transports talking. He wants to help people, and I think he’ll make the city proud.”
Noaks said he has not seen a lot of change in what one of the state’s smallest sheriff’s departments does daily. The main constant he has seen is people.
“Some people have compared this job to being sheriff Andy Taylor, and I don’t take offense to that,” said Noaks. “Andy had a good relationship with the people of Mayberry, and a lot of this job is that people want to come in and talk or vent. You end up learning to read people and talk to them. Often that’s all they want, to be able to talk to someone.”
Noaks said he is not leaving his successor with an empty office, since Deputy Tim Boardwine and Secretary Dee Dee Jones will be there for McConnell’s first day.
“The first month is the hardest, especially with budget planning coming up,” Noaks said.
“He’s a serious person and a good person,” Jones said of Noaks. “If he puts up with me, he has to be a good boss.”
Norton Police Investigator Bucky Culbertson popped in the office to give Noaks a signed appreciation plaque from department officers and to invite him to a reception in his honor on his last day.
“When Carlos started in the department, I was 5 years old,” Culbertson said. “A lot of officers in the department weren’t even a thought when Carlos was a police officer. I can say Carlos is one of the few law enforcement officers who can retire without a blemish on their record.”
Noaks recalled another youngster who joined the department’s police Explorer post at its start.
“He had hair down to his neck, and he wore this flowered shirt and weighed maybe 95 pounds,” said Noaks. That teenager was James Lane, who worked his way up from Explorer, auxiliary officer and police officer to become the city police chief.
“He’s like Jason,” Noaks said of Lane. “We worked together, took a lot of trips transporting prisoners and juveniles across the state and got to know each other. James is ... a good man, and it’s been an honor to know him and work with him all these years.”
One of the best parts of being Norton’s sheriff is the city’s small-town atmosphere, Noaks said.
“I think everyone here realizes it, and I think they want it to stay that way,” Noaks added.
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source: https://www.timesnews.net/news/winding-down-norton-sheriff-ends-39-year-city-law-enforcement-career/article_3343363e-61f7-11ec-9e87-5bdcbd726182.html
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