2024
"The Men and Women of the Morgan County Sheriff's Office continue to work hard for the people of Morgan County. Regardless of what we face on any given day in any year, our team continues to find ways to meet each new day's needs and challenges. I am grateful for their continued commitment to our community and the continued support our community shows the Morgan County Sheriff's Office." - Sheriff Ron Puckett
In 2024 the Morgan County Sheriff's Office was dispatched on 32,219 calls for service. This was a 32.3% increase over 2023.
Overall, the Sheriff's Office experienced 0 Homicides and saw an overall drop in Violent Crime and Property Crime:
- Violent Crime: down 23.92%
- Property Crime: down 14.41%
Here is a breakdown of Calls for Service in key categories:
- Domestic Violence down 25.25%
- Mental Health Related: down 39.92%
- Breaking and Entering (Vehicle) down 45.03%
- Burglary down 24.06%
- Missing Person Reports down 21.05%
- Harassment down 11.23%
- Check Well Being up
- Residential/Business Alarms down 26.58%
- Reckless Driver/Intoxicated Driver up 2.35%
- Theft Report down 22.12%
- Stolen Vehicle Reports down 25.03%
- Gunshots/Shooting down 6%
- Prowler Report down 28.26%
- Drug Related: up 11.04%
- Assault Reports(28) up 21.43%
- Sexual Assault / Rape Reports(25) up 31.57%
- Disturbance up 13.13%
- Animal related: up 10.7%
- Wrecks: up 0.51%
What is a Call for Service? Calls For Service are calls made to Morgan County 911 which were then dispatched to Deputies. Calls for Service are only an indicator of what is being reported through dispatch. Oftentimes, a call may end up being something different than what it was reported. An Example on 2024 is Rape/Sexual Assault. 25 Calls for Service came in as Rape/Sexual Assault but only 19 became cases that were investigated which was down from 2023.
PATROL DIVISION
In 2024, the Sheriff's Office Patrol Division continued its focus on proactive policing. We believe this focus contributed to the drop in Violent and Property Crimes.
Proactive Metrics:
| 4,257 | Traffic Stops | up 36.90% |
| 8,915 | Extra Patrols | up 79.14% |
| 610 | Business Checks | up 98.03% |
FUGITIVE UNIT
Additionally, the Fugitive Unit, in it's second full year, executed 2550 outstanding warrants. This is a 68.20% increase over 2023. The purpose of the Fugitive Unit is to work through our outstanding warrants(which you can view on our website) so that the justice process can move forward.
In total, our agency executed 4,766 outstanding warrants in 2024.
SHERIFF'S K9 UNIT
The Morgan County Sheriff's K9 Unit comprises 6 K9 Deputies assigned to Patrol, Narcotics and the Morgan County Jail. They hold various certifications in Patrol, Narcotics Detection, and Tracking.
In 2024 K9 Patrol and Narcotics K9 Deputies were deployed in 177 environments resulting in 70 indications, 14 seizures, and 9 arrests.
k9 Deouties assigned to the Morgan County Jail performed 104 jail sweeps in the ongoing battle against jail contraband.
MORGAN COUNTY JAIL
The Morgan County Jail supports all law enforcement agencies in Morgan County by housing all individuals arrested in Morgan County. The 1000-bed facility had an average daily population of 581 inmates.
In 2024 the jail:
| Booked | 7,582 | down 5.18% |
| Released | 7,583 | down 5.57% |
In 2024, 15,165 inmates were processed through the Morgan County Jail. That is a 5.38% drop from 2023.
Using the daily average for 2024, the jail served an estimated 636,195 meals.
CIVIL DIVISION
One of our primary roles is to support the courts. Our Administrative team handles all warrants, civil papers, evictions, courthouse security and inmate transports. The division is made up of the Warrants/Records Unit, Clerks Office, Court Security Unit and Civil Process / Transports Unit.
In 2024 the team
- processed 11,257 Court Actions
- logged 5,839 new warrants
- managed 374 evictions
- transported inmates
- 2953 for court
- 479 for Federal Court
- 382 for State
- Transported 70 Juveniles to Juvenile Facility
- Seved 928 Civil papers
DRUG ENFORCEMENT UNIT
In 2024, the Morgan County Sheriff's Drug Enforcement Unit continued its mission to identify and disrupt the flow of illegal narcotics in Morgan County.
These efforts resulted in:
- 224 Cases Initiated
- 99 Search Warrants Executed
- 121 Arrests Made on 319 Charges
- 101 Trafficking Charges
The investigations led to:
- $220,455 in US Currency Seized
- 117 Firearms Seized
- 8 Vehicles Seized
and resulted in the seizure of:
- 25.6lbs of Methamphetamine
- 2.6lbs of Cocaine
- 1.1lbs of Fentanyl
- 1.3lbs of Spice
- 43.2lbs of Marijuana
- 263lbs of various pills
Drugs continue to hurt families, neighborhoods, and communities. The public plays a major role in the ongoing battle with illegal narcotics by providing tips. Tips can always be submitted through our website or our TipLink: Sheriff TipLink
CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS DIVISION
The Morgan County Sheriff's Criminal Investigations Division exists to address Felony Cases in Morgan County. The unit comprises of 7 Investigators, an Evidence Technician, and Sex Offender Coordinator. The team handles cases like homicides, Robberies, Missing Persons, Burglaries and more.
In 2024, Investigators handled 575 assigned cases which resulted in 98 arrests. 54% were successfully closed with 31% ending in an arrest. (FBI Data shows the national average closure rate for Violent Crimes was 41.1% in 2023 and Property Crime 17.2% in 2019)
2024 Highlights
- Investigators had 0 Homicides to investigate in 2024. This number represents homicides that occurred in all areas outside of the Municipalities.
- All missing persons and runaway juveniles that were reported were located
- A substantial amount of stolen items were located and returned to its rightful owners
The Numbers:
- 20 Assault
- 52 Burglary
- 16 Breaking & Entering Auto
- 2 Bomb Threat
- 14 Chemical Endangerment
- 24 Criminal Mischief
- 19 Domestic Violence
- 84 Fraud / Forgery
- 9 Homicide/Murder
- 9 Missing Person (all located)
- 5 Runaway Juvenile (all located)
- 8 Shooting
- 23 Stolen Vehicle
- 96 Theft
The Criminal Investigations Division(CID) also includes our Special Victims Unit. These cases involve sexual crimes or non-sexual crimes whose victims require special handling such as children, the elderly or disabled people.
In 2024 Investigators were assigned 42 Cases that fall under the SVU criteria.
- 3 Compulsion
- 4 Electronic Solicitation of a Child
- 4 Indecent Exposure
- 19 Rape
- 6 Sex Abuse of a Child under 12
- 13 Sexual Misconduct
- 4 Sodomy
- 3 Traveling to Meet a Child for an Unlawful Sex Act
Sex Offender Registration and Compliance
Individuals convicted of a sex crime must register with local law enforcement. This information is maintained and updated in the Sex Offender Registry which is available here: Sex Offender Registry
2024 Registered Sex Offenders 186
The Morgan County Sheriff's Office Special Victims and Sex Offender Registry Coordinators maintains 186 Registered Sex Offenders in Morgan County. The Individuals must register in our office every 3 months and provide residence, vehicle, and employment information. Additionally, Compliance checks are performed to verify the information provided multiple times each year.
If an individual fails to register within the provided timeframe or the information provided is found to be incorrect a warrant for their arrest is issued for a SORNA violation.
Tips from the public provide invaluable information during an investigation. Tips can be provided through the: Sheriff's TipLink
The Morgan County Sheriff's Office pre-dates the State of Alabama. The first Sheriff took office in May 1817 in what would become Cotaco County when Alabama was formed after the signing of the Treaty of Turkey Town, which was ratified on February 6, 1818. Cotaco County would become Morgan County in 1821.
Sheriff Ron Puckett serves as the 55 Sheriff of Morgan County and is in his second term.
The Sheriff's Office operates with 52 Sworn Deputies, 108 Corrections Officers, and 20 professional support personnel.
Together they support Alabama's 9th most populated county, covering 599 square miles of land and water.