Jackie Hood Grant: Mounted Posse volunteer
By Betty Kossick, Correspondent
Reprinted with permission from the Zephyrhills News, November 1, 2007

Jackie Hood Grant, like many other professional people, is a volunteer. Yet her volunteer role is not as well known as some may be.  She volunteers for the Pasco County Sheriff’s Mounted Posse. Of course, she rides horses to do this. Ironically, one might think it’s a strange role for her, considering that she joined the Mounted Posse only nine months after sustaining a serious fall from a horse when she was taking riding lessons.

To look at Grant, one would think that she’s a fashion model – but then at one time she was Miss Zephyrhills, so that shouldn’t be so surprising. But her day job isn’t walking the fashion runway, rather it’s working as the administrative assistant to the director of Information Technology at Florida Medical Clinic.

How did she get into the Mounted Posse? Her husband Scott is a corporal with the Pasco County Sheriff’s Department, and he became a part of the Mounted Posse volunteers. “I had the same interests, and it was something that we could do together,” she says. “That’s when I started taking lessons from Margaret Bushell, who is a part-time deputy.”

What does the Mounted Posse do?  “Obviously we do parades, but we also do community rides with our horses on patrol to look and listen in neighborhoods,” she says. “If there’s an Amber Alert, we’re a part of the search and rescue. We, and our horses have to learn different disciplines to get qualified to meet the standards before we’re allowed to participate. There are certain protocols that must be met. For instance, the Mounted Posse is not called in until all other search methods have been exhausted. When the posse is looking for anything, the advantage is that we’re sitting high
on the horses.”  The height advantage is also a plus when patrolling parking areas at special events in Pasco County, such as the Pasco County Fair and also
mall parking areas, especially during the holiday shopping season.

But she tells that it took a lot of teamwork when she first started with the Mounted Posse to help her overcome her fear after her previous accident, which resulted in a hip replacement, when she was learning to ride.  “So, not only did I have to learn to ride and control my horse, but I had to overcome my fears,” she says. “My fellow team members encouraged me and kept my spirits up.”

Yet, since Jackie accomplished her goal, she’s been volunteering, along with Scott.  “My daughter, Victoria, who is 12, donates her time too,” she says. “She’s a gopher for the posse; she brings water and opens and closes gates. She’s my good little angel. Victoria has been taking riding lessons and hopes some day to be a part of the Mounted Explorer’s Program.”

Jackie grew up and attended school in Zephyrhills. She was a senior at Zephyrhills High School when she entered and won the Miss Zephyrhills 1977 title. She sighs audibly as she realizes, “That was 30-years ago.”  Then she muses on what entering that pageant and others did for her.  “It helped me to overcome shyness,” she says. “I had to be able to greet people. It also taught me to be a very humble person. Yes, it was work, but it was also a lot of fun.”  The pageant talent that she displayed was as a flutist. She was also a majorette and played in the ZHS band.

“I not only had to perform in front of an audience, but I had to speak and be able to capture the audience,” she says. “That taught me self-confidence.   I give a lot of credit to my mother [Marilyn Hood]. I probably wouldn’t have filled those shoes as Miss Zephyrhills without her love, devotion and push. I did try other pageants, but I didn’t get addicted to them,” she smiles.

In 1980, Jackie developed an interest in the medical field and went to work as a receptionist and medical assistant for Dr. Dominick Caselnova.  “It was a great learning experience for me,” she says. “The opportunity came for this position, and I applied and got it. I’ve been at Florida Medical Clinic for 10 years. I’m still in the medical field but it’s a little different.”

Jackie speaks lovingly about Scott.  “My love for my husband is so deep,” she says. “He’s my gift.”  She holds admiration for the work he does with the Sheriff’s
department, especially for the work he does for children with the drug searches at schools with his K-9 partner K.T.  Her husband has served her as an example and a mentor and thereby she says, “There comes a time in your life when you feel that you want to give to others – and I feel that I’m doing this with the posse. It’s a positive activity that Scott, Vicki and I can all do together. We are just giving back from where we have gotten so much.”

2007 Volunteer of the Year Award

Paul Rodis is the 2007 PSO volunteer of the year and he has been a vital asset to the Booking and Records Sections at the Land O’ Lakes Jail.   Paul logged 771 hours of service during 2007 in this very busy section.  During 2006, the Booking Unit processed 31,935 inmates into the facility.  Managing the intake and release of such a large population of offenders requires meticulous attention to detail and Paul donates his time performing many of the mission essential functions required for the creation, maintenance, and control of both active and inactive inmate records on a daily basis.  He creates new files for all incoming inmates and keeps them organized and for the Booking staff.  He verifies that the biographical data and arrest information is accurate and properly recorded before submitting them to file.  He also maintains the active inmate file room for all those presently incarcerated.  This equates to care, custody, and quality control for over 1,000 active files on any given day based on average inmate population. 

Last year the Records Section was short two clerks for approximately six months. Our volunteer of the year seized the opportunity to help fill the vacancy until new personnel could be hired and trained.  He was a major contributor to the Booking and Records Sections successfully maintaining the active file room during this difficult period and saved the Pasco Sheriff's Office over 250 hours of overtime expenses for his efforts.

Undersheriff Col. Al Nienhuis presents Paul Rodis with his award

His supervisors credit this volunteer with “going above beyond” his assigned duties by embarking on a self-directed project to design a new room to house inactive inmate files and records.  Law requires us to maintain all released inmate’s files.  This is a monumental task; given the increase in our inmate population the existing facility no longer provided adequate storage.  Our volunteer spent long days, evenings and even weekends working throughout the summer to design the room under some adverse conditions (no air conditioning).  Once completed, he moved over 12,000 files into the new room and alpha-sorted them with meticulous accuracy.   This task saved the agency an additional 200 hours of overtime expenses needed to complete such a project.