Murray County Officer Named DNR Law Enforcement’s 2015 Ranger of the Year

On Sunday night, Aug. 23, DNR’s Law Enforcement Division named Corporal Casey Jones from Murray County as their 2015 Ranger of the Year. Corporal Bob Holley, who is assigned to Crisp County, received the James R. Darnell Award as the runner-up to Ranger of the Year.

“These rangers have emerged as leaders among their peers this past year,” said DNR Commissioner Mark Williams.  “They work hard every day to enforce the conservation laws of the state and to ensure public safety, and I applaud their contributions.”

Jones is known as a well-rounded Ranger who is committed to conservation law enforcement and dedicated to serving the citizens of Murray and surrounding counties. His is a solid investigator, and his efforts landed him the Investigator of the Year award for the Division’s northwest Georgia region.

In one investigation regarding illegal hunting activities, he documented 43 separate violations, including hunting without permission, unlawful enticement of game, hunting deer out of season, hunting turkey out of season, possession of illegally taken wildlife and failure to record deer harvest record. In addition to his regular duties, he is a P.O.S.T. instructor, a firearms instructor, a Side Scan Sonar Operator, and he also presented 28 boating safety programs to middle school students in his work area.

“Corporal Jones always demonstrates a strong commitment to the Division through his aggressive but fair conservation law enforcement.” said Col. Eddie Henderson, director of the Law Enforcement Division. “Casey is very deserving of this award.”

Holley is one of eight DNR Law Enforcement K-9 officers statewide, and he and his K-9 partner Creek are always willing and ready to assist other work units and federal, state and local agencies when necessary. This past year, he and Creek had a number of agency assists, including man-tracking and locating criminal evidence. In one case, they were able to recover items used in a bank robbery. In addition to being a K-9 handler and carrying out his regular duties as a ranger, he is a member of the Counter Terrorism Task Force, the Honor Guard and is a firearms instructor and a Field Training Officer.

“Corporal Holley has proven himself to be an integral part of our conservation law enforcement and public safety efforts in southwest Georgia,” said Henderson. “We can always count on him and Creek to perform at the highest level.”

The winners were selected from a group of seven nominees, one from each DNR region across the state.  The 2015 Region Rangers of the Year are:

Region I (NW Georgia): Cpl. Casey Jones
Region II (NE Georgia): Cpl. Adam Loudermilk
Region III (E. Central Georgia): Cpl. Brian Adams
Region IV (W. Central Georgia): Cpl. Travis Sweat
Region V (SW Georgia): Cpl. Bob Holley
Region VI (S. Central Georgia): Cpl. Dan Stiles
Region VII (Coastal Georgia): Ranger Patrick Gibbs

All seven nominees are well-known as outstanding role models and public servants within their respective communities