Ten years ago today, the Warren County Board of Supervisors appointed Martin Pace interim sheriff to replace Paul Barrett, who’d served a state-record 28 years.

Then, later in 1996, Pace won a special election and he has been re-elected to his post twice since – in 1999 and 2003. Now, midway through his third term, he recalls what it was like taking over the department after about 15 years as a deputy.

&#8220I never really looked at it as replacing Sheriff Barrett,” said Pace, now 47. &#8220He has a folklorist record around here and an impeccable record of solving crime. I do some things differently and have changed some things, but a lot of things I do aren’t different” from how he did them.

One of those changes since Pace took office involves county patrols.

&#8220When I was a young deputy, we didn’t even have 24-7 coverage,” he said. &#8220We worked on an on-call basis. As population grows in the county, the public expects more municipal-type patrols. Therefore, we have restructured shifts so we can more evenly provide coverage throughout the county.”

The sheriff’s department has also hired full-time court officers, implemented a beat system for patrol, started standardized shift schedules and now has full-time prisoner transportation officers who allow deputies to spend more time on the streets.

Pace has also continued his education, building on a 1980 bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Southern Mississippi.

He is a 2004 graduate of the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va., and is a member of the executive board for FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force for Mississippi, the legislative committee for the state sheriffs association and other boards. He is also involved with We Care Community Services, Haven House Family Shelter and Good Shepherd Community Center. He is an elder at First Presbyterian Church and teaches at Hinds Community College.

Being accessible to citizens is a big part of Pace’s agenda.

&#8220I think the public’s demands are ever-changing,” he said. &#8220I am actively involved with major cases, not because I don’t think my deputies can handle them, but because I am sheriff and the public expects me to be involved. It’s just the contact with people I enjoy. Whether I’m dealing with homicides or traffic fatalities or house burglaries, the families are always a priority.”

Pace said some of his policy changes have not come quickly.

&#8220When I was appointed during the interim period, I didn’t make any changes until I was actually elected,” he said. &#8220I just had some critical issues I had to deal with right off the bat.”

Some of those issues included comprehensive firearms-qualification training, formal field training and a comprehensive driving program. Officers have received more than 7,000 hours of training, Pace said.

Though Pace calls his staff – which includes Chief Deputy Jay McKenzie and Undersheriff Jeff Riggs – &#8220very competent,” he insists on working as much as possible.

&#8220I work all the time,” Pace said. &#8220My typical day is 12 hours long. My day starts with phone calls around 7 in the morning. It’s not what you do; it’s who you are. It never ends. I spend most of it on issues I’m mandated to deal with, like administrative duties and working with other agencies and the supervisors. I try my best to be very progressive.”

Despite the long days and more than 26 years in law enforcement, Pace does not plan on quitting anytime soon.

&#8220I don’t want to put a limit on it,” he said. &#8220I thoroughly enjoy doing this. Retirement is just not an option right now.”

Pace’s career began in November 1979 as a state park ranger in Hattiesburg. Less than two years later, he joined the Warren County Sheriff’s Department.

&#8220I started Jan. 14, 1981, working midnight to 8 a.m. on the second floor of the jail. I served civil process and worked as a court bailiff. In November or December of 1981, I was promoted to uniform patrol division until 1988.”

Later the same year, Pace said, he was promoted to investigator.

&#8220And I was an investigator until I took office as sheriff in January 1996.”

Since then, the department has faced &#8220an evolving” county, Pace said.

&#8220I think, sadly, we are dealing in some cases with a more violent offender now,” he said. &#8220Some of that I would credit to the widespread use of crystal meth. Ten years ago, we rarely dealt with crystal meth. Now, it’s an overwhelming issue in this country.”

Looking back, Pace said some of the more memorable events in his 10-year career as sheriff include &#8220a major ice storm that virtually shut the county down shortly after I took office, the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and, from a personal standpoint, the near-death injuries of deputy Mike Hollingsworth. I pray to God that never happens again.”

Hollingsworth was standing outside his patrol vehicle in February 2004 directing funeral traffic into Green Acres Memorial Park on U.S. 80 when he was struck. He spent days in a coma and months recovering. Sentencing of Ronald Vaughn, the 25-year-old convicted of aggravated DUI in the case, is set for Friday.

Within the department, Pace has stressed the importance of eventually replacing an aging and outdated jail.

&#8220The original building has been here since 1907,” he said. &#8220It sat virtually unchanged for 70 years and in the mid-1970s, in answering a federal lawsuit filed against the sheriff and board of supervisors, this building we’re in today was built in 1977.”

For the times that jail was adequate, Pace said, but it desperately needs to be replaced with modern technology and architecture.

&#8220This is one of the problems I inherited when I took office,” he said. &#8220The inside of the building is virtually unchanged since the 1970s. We continually have plumbing problems. It’s just an old building.”

Barrett retired while facing controversial federal charges of providing false information in the Washington, D.C., trial of a man accused of having a gun in his vehicle, which is illegal in the nation’s capital. Barrett said the testimony was mistaken and submitted the case, without defending it, to a judge who ruled he was guilty.