An agreement between Warren County and the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center will provide a local firing range for sheriff’s deputies.

The Board of Supervisors Monday authorized board president Richard George to sign a lease with ERDC that includes an agreement enabling the Warren County Sheriff’s Office to use the facility on a 14-acre site in the Ceres Industrial Park.

The county and the Warren County Port Commission, which manages the industrial park, initially provided to the sheriff’s office for a range.

Under the agreement, ERDC will build the facility.

Sheriff Martin Pace said having a facility here will allow deputies to use the range to meet state minimum firearms qualifying standards.

“Since I have been in office, we have jumped from place to place to try to find locations that would try to find locations that would meet the standards that we’re required to meet this agreement will satisfy that,” he said.

“This will prevent us from having to drive to Jackson or Clinton or wherever to qualify, so it’s not only something that’s necessary from a manpower standpoint, it’s going to be a cost savings to train here as opposed to drive out of town.”

Pace said his office has an excellent working relationship and partnership with the Corps and ERDC, adding the relationship “is as good as it has ever been. They had a need for a facility and did not have access to property. The county had access to some property, but not the funding to build the facility.

“This is an excellent cooperative agreement. It will be a state of the art facility that will be available to the sheriff’s office and be constructed by the Corps of Engineers ERDC and they would use it for the qualification for their security staff, but we would have access to it.”