Herbels attend swearing-in for Texas sheriff
Staff writer
Marion resident Ruth Herbel recently was surprised to be invited to the swearing-in ceremony for the first woman sheriff of Dallas County, Texas.
As it turns out, Ruth's great-great-great-grandfather, John B. Huitt, was the first sheriff elected in Dallas County in May 1846.
"Because of that link, the (sheriff's office) public relations department had done the genealogy and invited my sister and I to attend," Ruth said.
Ruth and her husband Ron, along with her sister, Geri Box and husband Milo from Norman, Okla., made the trip to Dallas, Texas, for the ceremony held at 12:01 a.m. Jan. 1 in the Frank Crowley Court Building in downtown Dallas.
The couples were invited to attend the ceremony for newly-elected sheriff, Lupe Valdez. The previous sheriff was a man who had held the position for 20 years, Herbel said.
After Valdez was sworn in, she conducted a swearing-in ceremony for 340 of her total 520 deputies.
"The rest had to be sworn in the next day because they were on duty," Ruth said.
Also during the ceremony, the Herbels and Boxes were named honorary deputies and presented with certificates.
"I saw at least five TV cameras so it was quite the media event," Ruth said.
As part of the festivities, public relations representative Don Perez explained the history of the Dallas County Sheriff's Department.
"Initially, there was one sheriff and one deputy. Now there's 520 deputies, 340 detention officers, and around 200 civilian employees," Ruth said. "The department has an $8 million annual budget and the average number of people detained on any given day is 6,500."
Ruth said she was impressed by the thoroughness of the sheriff's department in researching the history of the first sheriff and was honored by their invitation to attend.
"I was impressed enough to go ahead and attend even though they really didn't expect us to," she said.
Interestingly enough, Ruth and Geri's great-great-great-grandfather only served a few years with the sheriff's department. He was killed Jan. 8, 1848, in the line of duty.
"His brother and deputy, Roland Huitt, ended up finishing up his term in office," she said.
"It was a nice little ceremony," Ruth said. "We were honored to be there."
