Sgt. Winfrey cited for job well done

Published 9:15 pm Saturday, December 17, 2005

Whitfield County Superior Court judges, attorneys and inmates all look to Sgt. Cora Winfrey for guidance.

A 29-year veteran of the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office, Winfrey was named Whitfield County’s 2005 Outstanding Employee during an annual Christmas celebration.

Winfrey is a mainstay at the courthouse, moving inmates into court and keeping up with bonds, sentence length and court dates.

“She keeps the court calendar moving which saves the taxpayers money,” said Annette Walker, assistant court administrator, in her nomination form. “She is a great asset to all the courts and to Whitfield County.”

“She keeps all the judges straight,” said Hazel Campbell, court reporter for Chief Judge William Boyett.

Winfrey’s duties include keeping up with all the paper work concerning inmates and making sure they get into the right courtroom then back to the jail. She also serves warrants and and civil papers.

“She plays a key role with the sheriff’s department as the liaison to Superior Court,” said Sheriff Scott Chitwood. “The judges have numerous times expressed their compliments to me regarding her work.

Law enforcement was not the chosen path for Winfrey when she graduated from Albany State College with a degree in health and physical education.

She was looking for a job when a man named Ben Phillips told her about an opening at the sheriff’s office.

Winfrey had held a variety of jobs with the sheriff’s office, including dispatcher, receptionist, road deputy and booking officer.

But it is in court services where Winfrey had made her mark with all walks of life.

“I really enjoy the job I am doing helping others,” Winfrey said. “I try to go beyond what I am supposed to do. Maybe my purpose is to help others.”

Winfrey stepped outside her role when the mother of an 8-year-old boy who stole some candy wanted someone to talk to him, Walker said in her letter.

“Sgt. Winfrey gladly talked with the boy and the mother was so grateful,” Walker said.