Putnam County Georgia Sheriff's Office

03/03/2025

Search activities that include the use of dogs and divers seeking to locate the body Gary Jones in Lake Oconee have now been suspended until further notice.

DNR officers and Putnam County Sheriff's Deputies will continue to conduct daily shoreline searches and if weather conditions improve, search dogs will be deployed again in the near future.

This has been an extensive 22-day search conducted by officers from the Georgia DNR, Georgia State Patrol, and Putnam County Sheriff's Office. We were assisted by numerous civilian search and rescue organizations, staff and other individuals associated with Westminster Schools, and many civilian fisherman and residents from Lake Oconee and Lake Sinclair. Divers and dog handlers from all over Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina came here to help us and all came as volunteers.

We have deployed aircraft, all available underwater technological devices, and professional divers in our efforts. I cannot remember such an extensive use of government and civilian personnel and resources for an incident such as this on Lakes Oconee and Sinclair in the last 40 years.

Lastly, until I can formulate a more accurate list to identify everyone, please let me express my gratitude to all who have worked tirelessly for the last 3 weeks in this difficult endeavor. I also want to express thanks to the many people and businesses who graciously brought food and drinks for everyone. It was most welcome and makes me very proud of our community.

HRS

Sheriff Howard R. Sills
Putnam County, Georgia
111 Ridley Drive
P. O. Box 3637
Eatonton, Georgia 31024
(706)485-8557
(706)485-4840 fax

02/21/2025

SCAM WARNING

There has been an extraordinary increase in scam callers in our community over the last several weeks. These criminals are calling people and “spoofing” the telephone number of my office. “Spoofing” is a way criminals falsify the telephone number they are calling from and use a legitimate number that belongs to someone else. This is done via the internet using VOIP technology. For example, when you receive a call that has been “spoofed” it will appear on your caller ID as (706)485-8557 which is the main number of the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, but they are actually calling from another number.
These criminals call people and say they are with the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office and tell their victims that they have failed to appear for jury duty, and they have to pay a fine or they will be arrested. They usually instruct the victim to withdraw cash and take the cash to an ATM that will send funds via bitcoin, although they sometimes will instruct the victim to get gift cards. In some cases, they may send a courier to your home to take possession of the cash. Of late they have emailed victims a copy of a counterfeit federal arrest warrant.
The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office WILL NEVER call you and tell you to send money or other types of funds anywhere for any reason. If we were to have a warrant for your arrest you wouldn’t be called, texted, or emailed about it.
In some incidents they text or email their victims. Sometimes they claim to be with the Social Security Administration. There have been cases where they claim you failed to pay a toll road fee or tell you that you won the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes or some other contest.
Since January 1st of this year people in Putnam County have lost over $100,000.00 to fraud schemes like this.
All calls, texts, or emails you may receive like those previously mentioned are SCAMS !
DO NOT, DO NOT …send any money or funds to these people under any circumstances !!!

Howard R. Sills, Sheriff

01/10/2025

01/10/2025

Roads in the northern part of the county are especially hazardous already. We have sleet and accumulation of snow of almost 2 inches in the Lake Oconee Area. The Sheriff is urging people who do not absolutely have to get out, to stay at home and enjoy the snow.

10/01/2024

09/20/2022

HOWARD R. SILLS
SHERIFF

W A N T E D

* Deputy Sheriffs *
*Jail Officers *
* 911 Dispatchers *

Uniform deputy sheriffs serve and protect the public by responding to all emergencies. They enforce all state laws and the orders of the courts throughout the county and state. The duties they perform put them in harm’s way at all times.

Jail Officers supervise inmates in the county jail and will occasionally be subjected to dangerous situations while performing their duties.

911 Radio Dispatchers must be able to handle stressful situations and be able to multi-task while operating phones, multiple computer programs, and radio communications.

Starting salary Deputy Sheriff $43,512.00
Salary of certified LEOs dependent on years of service and education

Starting salary of Jailers & 911 Dispatchers $37,520.00
Salary of certified Jailers & Dispatchers dependent on years of experience and education

All applicants for these positions will undergo thorough background investigations. They will also be required to submit to a medical physical exam, polygraph examination, and drug screening. Persons hired for these positions will also have to successfully pass formal training courses to meet various certifications mandated by state law. Persons hired as deputy sheriffs and jail officers must further possess adequate physical strength and agility to pass all state required training.

The compensation of law enforcement personnel isn’t what it should be, and an element of danger will always be present in connection with the work you will doing; but if you have a sense of duty and want to serve your community doing work that will enable you to go to sleep every night knowing that you made a difference, we need you.

Applications are available at the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, 111 Ridley Drive, Eatonton, GA 31024 or online at [email protected]. Tel. (706)-485-8557

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08/26/2022

Closing of Lake Sinclair Precinct

The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office Lake Sinclair Precinct located at 1053 Milledgeville Road (U.S. 441 South) is now permanently closed.

The Peoples Bank graciously allowed us to use that building free of charge since April of 2007, but they have now sold the building to a real estate firm. We don’t have another location on the south side of the county to relocate to at this point in time, but there may some possibility for another facility in this area of the county in the future.

Howard R. Sills
Sheriff

05/12/2022

Communities across the nation will come together during National Police Week, May 11-17, to honor and remember those law enforcement officers who made the ultimate sacrifice, as well as the family members, friends, and fellow officers they left behind.


The limestone walls of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C. bear the names of over 23,000 law enforcement officers who lost their lives in the line of duty (http://NLEOMF.org). There will be another 619 names added to the memorial this year with 147 of those being officers who lost their lives in previous years whose stories of sacrifice had been lost to history until now. One of those was my wife’s grandfather, Pratt Mizell of the Charlton County, Georgia Sheriff’s Office, who was murdered by an escapee in 1938.


The names of all 619 fallen officers nationwide will be formally dedicated during the 34th Annual Candlelight Vigil on the evening of May 13, 2022 which will be held on the National Mall in Washington. People across the country can experience this unique and powerful ceremony which will be livestreamed beginning at 8 PM (EDT) on May 13th and can be watched at https://nleomf.org/vigil, https://www.facebook.com/NLEOMF/, and https://www.YouTube/theNLEOMF.


The annual wreath laying ceremony at the memorial will happen on Sunday, May 15th at 3:00PM and it can also be viewed live at https://www.YouTube/theNLEOF.


United States Public Law 87-726 was passed by Congress during the administration of President John F. Kennedy in 1962. It designated May 15th of each year as National Peace Officer Memorial Day. That statute was amended by United States Public Law 103-322 and made the day one of only two days each year, the other being Armed Forces Memorial Day, that government agencies, businesses and residents are required by law to fly their U.S. flags at half-staff.


I humbly urge everyone to give pause and remember the men and women of our country who have lost their lives in the line of duty serving and protecting this nation this Sunday.


Most Sincerely,


Howard R. Sills, Sheriff
Putnam County, Georgia