The Carroll County sheriff’s office is mourning the loss of one of their own.
Sheriff Dale Williams, the department’s leader for the last 18 years, passed away early Saturday morning.
Services for Sheriff Williams will be held in Bell-Herron Middle School.
Calling Hours will be held on Thursday, September 29, 2022 from 4PM. – 7PM. The funeral will be held Friday, September 30 at 11AM.
Sheriff Williams was elected to the highest office in 2005, but he was a familiar face to Carroll County law enforcement.
“The passing of Carroll County Sheriff Dale R. Williams is a heartbreaking loss for our county. Sheriff Williams served his county well with selflessness, dignity, honor and pride,” said commissioner Chris Modranski.
Modranski said he was an upholding member of the local department.
“His leadership will be greatly missed but because of his leadership a command structure is in place to ensure the people of Carroll County are safe and well protected until an appropriate appointment can be made by County Commissioners on Monday,” said Modranski.
The commissioners will have a meeting on a Monday and are likely to appoint a replacement for Sheriff Williams for 45 days and the Democratic Central Committee will then appoint a replacement.
Williams’ career in law enforcement started in 1969 when he worked as a dispatcher for the sheriff’s department until 1975. Williams then joined the Carrollton Police Department in 1985 until 2005. He was hired as a patrolman before moving up the ranks to sergeant.
During his 20 years at the Carrollton Police Department, he also worked part-time as a Carroll County Sheriff’s deputy.
Over the course of his 18 year career as the county Sheriff, he conducted multiple investigations that resulted in convictions of criminals.
One of the more recent investigations his department conducted was a mission person’s case of 14-year-old Jonathan Minard. Jonathan was missing for a week before he was found buried on a farm in Carroll County. The investigation lasted 6 months and resulted in the arrest and conviction of Matthew Little.
In 2016, Sheriff Williams and the department arrested and charged two men in connection with an armed robbery at the Crossroads pizza shop in Malvern.
Investigations involving child abuse hit Sheriff Williams the hardest.
The Minard investigation was the more recent investigation he handled, but in 2010 his department was dispatched to a home on 171 for reports of a shooting. When they arrived, deputies found a mother and her 18-month-old son and 6-year-old daughter dead.
It was determined that the 24-year-old mother shot and killed her children before turning the gun on herself.
In 2019, the sheriff’s department investigated reports of a man exposing himself to an elementary student in Carrollton.
Gary D. Lee, Jr, was arrested after deputies witnessed him exposing himself to a young student getting off a school bus. Sheriff Williams had placed an officer in plain clothes on the bus, where he was caught committing the act.