After 20 years of dedicated service to the Oneida County…

After 20 years of dedicated service to the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office, Lieutenant Deborah Harris has decided to retire. Lt. Harris was first joined the Sheriff’s Office in 2001 as a Correction Officer. In 2007, she was promoted to Sergeant and then in 2017 she was promoted to Lieutenant. Early on in her career, Deb excelled in the area of inmate programs which included our high school equivalency (G.E.D.) program which has been rated one of the best in the state. Lt. Harris also prided herself on teaching the inmates various trades such as landscaping, horticulture, and painting. Numerous community leaders in our county know her well for the various painting and beautification projects completed by inmates under her supervision that were done in area parks, ballfields, cemeteries, and municipal buildings. She also looked forward to developing and overseeing the annual vegetable garden at the jail, the landscaping at the Sheriff’s Office headquarters, and the inmate sewing program that provided blankets to our area’s domestic violence shelters and our homeless veterans. Most recently during the pandemic, Lt. Harris led a team of inmates that handmade hundreds and hundreds of facial masks for anyone that needed them. Deb’s dedication, commitment, and compassion for humanity will be greatly missed. We wish her well in all of her future endeavors.