In 1997, Father Jim Stout (Church of the Ascension in Copperopolis) began working with Sheriff’s Department Administration members to develop a Sheriff’s Chaplains Program. Thanks to Father Jim’s dedication and generous donation of time, plus the Department’s Administration's support, the program has grown to include several clergypersons throughout the County.
Volunteer chaplains are on-call 24 hours daily to respond to crisis situations and assist law enforcement personnel with death notifications and search and rescue operations. They are secular in purpose and are specifically trained to be crisis responders. As chaplains, they are to be “religiously neutral” and are in no way intended to, nor do they wish to replace an individual’s clergy-person.
The Chaplains are available to provide human support, spiritual guidance, and/or confidential counseling to all department members and their families. Along with the Sheriff’s Department, chaplains are available to serve the community's people through a field service ministry. A chaplain may also serve individuals or groups in a jail ministry.